JACKSON — An 18-year-old from Jackson County has admitted his involvement in a crash last year that killed an off-duty Wellston police officer and injured another, Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson announced Tuesday.
The defendant, who has since moved to Athens County, pleaded guilty Monday to a second-degree felony count of aggravated vehicular homicide and a third-degree felony count of aggravated vehicular assault in Jackson County Juvenile Court.
“A teenager’s reckless decision to drive drunk cost a police officer his life and left another officer injured,” Wilson said. “This tragedy is a reminder of the devastating consequences that can result from drunken driving.”
At about 2 a.m. on Aug. 30, 2025, a 2014 Hyundai Accent driven by the defendant, then 17 years old and intoxicated, rear-ended a golf cart traveling southbound on South Pennsylvania Avenue near Sixth Street in Wellston.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which investigated the crash, the impact forced the golf cart to veer off the left side of the road and hit a tree. The Hyundai came to rest in the roadway.
Tragically, a passenger in the golf cart, Wellston resident Matthew Juniper, 25, suffered fatal injuries in the crash. Juniper was a four-year veteran of the Wellston Police Department and had previously served as a deputy with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
The driver of the golf cart, Wellston resident Brant Derrow, 40, also a Wellston police officer, was seriously injured in the crash.
A disposition hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Nov. 5. The Special Prosecutions Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the case.