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A teenager faces charges in an accident that killed a Wellston police officer

By: WOUB News Team
Posted on: Tuesday, March 31, 2026

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — A teenager has been charged with aggravated vehicular homicide following a crash last year that killed an off-duty Wellston police officer and injured another.

At about 2 a.m. on Aug. 30, a Hyundai Accent allegedly driven by an intoxicated 17-year-old male rear-ended a golf cart traveling southbound on South Pennsylvania Avenue near the intersection of Sixth Street in Jackson.

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which investigated the crash, the golf cart traveled off the left side of the road and struck a tree, while the Hyundai came to rest in the roadway.

One of the golf cart’s passengers, 25-year-old Matthew Juniper of Wellston, sustained fatal injuries. Juniper was a four-year veteran of the Wellston Police Department and previously served as a deputy with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

The driver of the golf cart, 40-year-old Brant Derrow, also a Wellston police officer, was seriously injured.

The teenager is charged with four felonies and two misdemeanors in Jackson County Juvenile Court: two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, one count of aggravated vehicular assault, one count of vehicular assault, and two counts of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The Ohio attorney general’s special prosecutions section is prosecuting the case.