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Atchison man sentenced on charges in fatal 2021 crash

By Greg Bebermeyer

07/07/2025

Derek Wohletz/Credit: Atchison Co Sheriff's Office

(KAIR)--An Atchison man convicted on charges in connection with a fatal 2021 Atchison County crash that claimed two lives is going to prison.

40-year-old Derek Wohletz, on June 26, was sentenced in Atchison County District Court to more than 16-years in prison on charges of involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence and aggravated battery while driving under the influence.

That's according to a release from Atchison County Attorney Sherri Becker who says the sentence of 196 months is the combined maximum for the two charges.

Wohletz pleaded no contest to the charges in May.

He was arrested in 2023 for his involvement in the fatal, 2021 crash while already in custody at the Atchison County Jail for unrelated charges. The arrest followed an extensive investigation begun by the Kansas Highway Patrol then continued by the Atchison County Sheriff's Office, which led to the arrest.

According to MSC News files, the crash occurred about 4 miles south of Atchison, on U.S. Highway 73, near Rooks Road, on the night of December 8, 2021, and claimed two lives, 26-year-old Felieca Paxton and 33-year-old Jovonnie Franklin, while causing considerable injuries to one of two juvenile passengers in the vehicle.

Becker, in the release, calls it a "a lengthy and complicated criminal investigation" that led to the filing of charges in August, 2023 and then to litigation that reached a resolution in Atchison County District Court with the sentencing of Wohletz.

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