MIAMI COUNTY — The Miami County Sheriff’s Office has filed a single count of second-degree misdemeanor vehicular homicide against the man behind the wheel of a dump truckthat collided with an SUV, killing an 11-year-old Troy boy this summer.
According to court records, Christopher Young, 20, of New Carlisle, was charged in the incident that claimed the life of 11-year-old Grant Gillespie of Troy. If convicted, the vehicular manslaughter sentence could include up to 90 days in jail and a mandatory license suspension of six months to three years.
The crash occurred shortly after noon on Aug. 3 at the intersection of Troy-Sidney Road and East Peterson Road in Staunton Township.
Young was the driver of the commercial dump truck that struck the passenger vehicle after apparently running the stop sign traveling westbound on Troy-Sidney Road.
Other occupants of the SUV, Jennifer D. Hughes, 41, and her son, Memphis Hughes, 12, both of Troy, went to the hospital with serious injuries and were transported by CareFlight from the scene. They were later released.
That accident would be the first of three serious accidents at the same intersection in two months. The intersection of Troy-Sidney and Peterson roads was the location of an accident on Aug. 21, 2020, where six people were injured, including two victims who were transported from the scene by CareFlight. Another crash was later recorded on Sept. 22 where two people were transported with injuries when a truck and a semi-truck collided in the same intersection.
By mid-September, the Miami County Engineer’s Office made several safety improvements to the intersection, including moving the stop sign closer to the road, increasing the size of the stop signs from 30-inches to 36-inches, and painting stop bars on the roadway.