Carroll County officials have filed multiple charges against a minor in connection with a fatal truck crash that killed two Francis Scott Key High School students in Westminster last December, closing out a lengthy investigation that stretched nearly nine months. The teen driver now faces eight counts, including automobile manslaughter, after a Ford F-250 pickup truck carrying five teenagers went off Jasontown Road near John Hyde Road, fell down an embankment, and landed partially overturned in Little Pipe Creek.
The crash happened on Dec. 2, 2025, when the driver attempted a left-hand turn near John Hyde Road and lost control, according to CBS Baltimore. Sixteen-year-old Cash Owings, a student at Francis Scott Key High School, was killed in the crash, and fellow 16-year-old student Seven Rupp was also killed, the outlet reported. Three other teenagers in the truck survived. As reported by Daily Voice, Owings died the night of the crash at Carroll Hospital, while Rupp was flown to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with catastrophic injuries and did not survive, passing away nearly two weeks later on Dec. 15, 2025.
The scene demanded an unusually heavy emergency response for the rural stretch of road. Two injured rear-seat passengers were flown by Maryland State Police Aviation helicopters to Shock Trauma, while two others were taken by Carroll County Department of Fire and Emergency Services ground ambulances, according to the same Daily Voice account. The scale of that response underscored just how violently the heavy pickup truck came to rest upside down in the creek.
Eight Months of Reconstruction Before Charges
The Carroll County State's Attorney's Office confirmed that a juvenile petition was filed against the minor, though the driver's name has not been publicly released. The office and the Carroll County Sheriff's Office Crash Reconstruction Unit spent nearly eight months investigating and reviewing crash data before finalizing the eight counts in late August, a timeline detailed in a Carroll County Times Facebook post cited by the dossier. What specific factors — speed, roadway conditions, or vehicle control — the reconstruction unit ultimately cited in reaching its conclusions has not been detailed publicly.
Automobile manslaughter is the most serious charge among the eight counts. Under Maryland Criminal Law § 2-209, manslaughter by vehicle is a felony that carries up to 10 years in prison and a fine of as much as $5,000 per count when a driver causes death through gross negligence, according to FindLaw. It remains an open question whether prosecutors will seek to move the case out of juvenile court; under Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Code § 3-8A-03, 16- and 17-year-olds facing vehicular manslaughter charges can be subject to adult court jurisdiction, but a case initiated through a juvenile petition stays in juvenile court unless a separate waiver or transfer hearing changes that, per legal background compiled by Cohen | Harris.
Graduated Licensing Rules and the Passenger Question
Maryland's graduated licensing law adds another layer of scrutiny to the case. Under Maryland Transportation Code § 21-1123, provisional license holders under 18 are barred from transporting passengers under 18 during their first 151 days of licensure unless a licensed adult driver at least 21 years old is also in the vehicle. Whether that provision was violated the night the truck carried five teenagers has not been publicly addressed by investigators.
Even if the case stays in the juvenile system, there is a hard ceiling on how long the court can retain authority. Under Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Code § 3-8A-07, a juvenile court's jurisdiction over an adjudicated delinquent youth automatically ends when that person turns 21.
A Community Still Mourning Two Students
Francis Scott Key High School said the deaths of the two students would deeply affect the entire school community, and the losses of Owings and Rupp were felt well beyond the classroom. Days after the crash, dozens of local youth arrived on dirt bikes, ATVs, and motorcycles for Owings' Dec. 8 memorial service at the Pleasant Valley Community Fire Department, honoring his passion for riding, according to the Baltimore Sun.
While Rupp remained hospitalized in critical condition at Shock Trauma, community members across Westminster organized a “Stand With Seven” fundraising and support campaign, rallying around his family before he died on Dec. 15. Additional details on the remaining seven charges against the minor have not been released, and no further update on the driver's identity has been made public as the case moves forward.
