Crash kills two local students, woman

A 34-year-old woman, her son and a Dublin Coffman High School classmate of his died over the weekend when the car they were in collided with a cement truck on Route 315 in southern Delaware County.

Pronounced dead at the scene were the driver of the Ford Focus, Adela Garcia-guijon, 34, and her 14-year-old son, Emiliano “Francisco” Cipriano, who resided in an apartment on Columbus’ Northwest Side.

A backseat passenger, 15-year-old Juan Perez-jijon, a classmate of Cipriano at Dublin Coffman, was critically injured in the crash. He died Sunday afternoon at Ohiohealth Riverside Methodist Hospital.

Dash-cam video footage from the cement truck, driven by Ronald Hipsher, 60, of Caledonia in Marion County, captured the crash as it developed along Route 315 about a quarter-mile north of Route 750 near Delaware, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.

At about 1:30 p.m. Saturday, the video showed the Ford Focus traveling northbound on Route 315, then suddenly veering off the right side of the road onto the gravel and grass berm. The driver overcorrected and the car fishtailed back onto the roadway into the truck, crashing into it broadside on the passenger side, said Sgt. James King of the patrol’s Delaware post.

The cement truck was traveling 44 mph in the 45 mph zone. The Focus appeared to be going faster, King said.

Hipsher, the cement truck driver, was shaken, but not injured, King said.

Garcia-guijon’s sister, who speaks little English, told an interpreter that the three were headed to a house cleaning job her sister had at a home in Delaware County. It was unclear if they were self-employed or working for an agency, King said

A GPS device in the car was still operating after the crash, and signaling voice directions in Spanish, he said.

Dublin-coffman Principal Mike Ulring described both of the deceased students as “very outgoing, friendly and positive.”

“They just had a great outlook,” he said. “They loved sports, including football and wrestling, but I’m not sure they were participating this year.”

A note sent to parents notifying them of the crash described GarciaGuijon as the mother of Cipriano, who went by Francisco at the high school.

The patrol was still trying to piece together the connection with Perez-jijon, the backseat passenger. King said that he was told that Garcia-guijon was Perez-dijon’s caretaker and that both of his parents had died, but the investigation had not yet confirmed that.

Grief counselors were being made available to Dublin Coffman students and staff, both in person and remotely. The school is using a hybrid teaching model.

Dublin Coffman’s Ulring said the loss of is especially challenging.

“We stay together. We can’t let any of this divide us,” he said. “We all need each other. Days like today are a perfect example of that.” dnarciso@dispatch.com @Deannarciso