Two plead guilty to felonies in fatal 2024 Camden Twp. ATV rollover crash

ELYRIA — Two men involved in a 2024 crash on state Route 303 that killed a Camden Township man pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony charges in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. David Tipple, 28, of Wakeman Township in Huron County, pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious assault and one count of aggravated vehicular homicide, all felonies, plus one count of reckless operation, a misdemeanor. Jordon Phillips, 26, of Camden Township, pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious assault and one count of aggravated vehicular homicide, all felonies, and one count each of DUI and reckless operation, both misdemeanors. A second count of aggravated vehicular homicide was dismissed as part of a plea agreement. Sentencing in both their cases is set for April 6 in Judge Chris Cook's courtroom. Both were charged in connection with the crash that killed Kyle Hill, 24. Phillips agreed to testify against Tipple as part of his plea agreement. The Prosecutor's Office then agreed to recommend Phillips be sentenced to community control, Assistant Prosecutor Paul Griffin said in court. Speaking via Zoom call at Tuesday's plea hearings, Hill's mother Deela Sutton demanded a prison sentence for the defendants. "That's my goal," she said, "however that comes about." Cook noted that the victim's father, Trent Hill, had requested leniency for the defendants. Tipple was promised only that he wouldn't get the maximum sentence of 12 years in prison and that he would be eligible for time off for good behavior. And while Cook doesn't have to send Phillips to prison, it's still a possibility. If the men fail to appear for sentencing in April, their plea agreements will be thrown out, Cook warned them. Hill, Phillips and Tipple all were friends, according to statements made in court. Phillips, who was intoxicated, was driving a Polaris RZR four-wheeler headed east in the 50000 block of Route 303 with Hill as his passenger just before 11:30 p.m. Nov. 16, 2024. Phillips drove onto Tipple's property on Route 303, "turfing" it. The Prosecutor's Office said Tipple got into a 2010 Ford F-150 and sped after the Polaris before passing it and cutting it off. That's when Phillips lost control, the Polaris went off the road into a field and overturned. Hill was thrown from the Polaris, which then rolled on top of him and fatally injured him, authorities said. Sheriff's deputies found multiple beer cans and bottles on the ground around the Polaris and an open case of beer inside the cabin, which smelled of alcohol. Cook said the evidence was that Tipple "wasn't aware that it was his friends who were, for lack of a better word, screwing around turfing his lawn." If Tipple had known Phillips and Hill were the ones turfing his lawn, "nothing may have even happened," Cook said. A 2018 Firelands High School graduate and construction worker known to friends as "Meeper," Hill was engaged to be married when he died, according to his obituary. Plea negotiations were finalized Tuesday morning. Phillips and Tipple had been scheduled to go on trial Tuesday, and Cook said Tipple's trial would have started today if no plea agreement was reached. Cook said his court attempted to be as accommodating as possible, but "there comes a time when these cases need to be resolved." "This court has bent over backward to accommodate everybody," he said. "I'm tired of bending." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or [email protected].