Jackie Hutz had talked to her sister, Cinnamon Gilch, five times that morning.
They were getting ready for a family birthday party in North Park. The last time they spoke, the two women discussed how many pizzas they would need to celebrate Gilch’s 4-year-old granddaughter’s birthday.
The answer was 10.
But as Hutz was driving toward North Park for the party just after 1 p.m., she got tangled in traffic on Route 8 in Richland.
There had been a crash. A speeding tri-axle dump truck crossed the center line and struck two vehicles, hitting one of them head-on.
“I texted Cinnamon and my daughter to avoid Route 8 because there was a bad accident,” Hutz told a judge on Monday, “not knowing that the broken metal all over the road, sirens blaring from all directions, were for her.”
‘I’m so sorry’
Franklin R. Simon, 33, of Uniontown, pleaded guilty on Monday to homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence, four counts of reckless endangerment, operating unsafe equipment, and driving while displaying a video in the vehicle.
As part of a plea agreement, Simon will serve one to two years in state prison.
In addition, Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kevin G. Sasinoski ordered him to pay $1,650 in fines.
Simon, who spoke briefly in court, said the crash was an accident.
As he was led from the courtroom in handcuffs, he turned to Gilch’s family, all wearing a red flower and ribbon to mark the redhead’s favorite color. Through tears, Simon simply repeated, “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Hutz, sitting in the front row, kindly nodded her head.
“Thank you.”
Broken-down truck and a FaceTime call
According to the criminal complaint, Simon was driving a 1996 tri-axle dump truck just after 1 p.m. on Route 8 near the intersection with Krebs Drive.
The speed limit on the four-lane road is 40 mph.
Police said that Simon was driving southbound at between 52 and 55 mph when he came upon stopped or slowing traffic in front of him. He applied the brakes, but his truck began to skid, first striking a Toyota Rav4 in front of him on the left rear corner. The Toyota then crashed into the rear of a Jeep Compass in front of it.
The dump truck continued to skid and rotated counterclockwise in the road before the front end entered the northbound, left lane of Route 8 where it struck Gilch’s Honda CRV head on. The momentum carried her vehicle into the right lane of Route 8, where she was struck by a Chevrolet Colorado.
In all, five vehicles were involved.
Gilch, 53, of West Deer, was trapped inside her SUV and died at the scene.
The investigation revealed that Simon’s dump truck had four pre-existing violations that made it inoperable, including brake failures. Police said it should not have been on the road that day.
In addition, investigators found that Simon’s cell phone showed he had been on a 46-minute FaceTime video call at the time of the crash.
Witnesses told police they saw him looking down just before impact.
‘A safe space and a feeling of home’
Laura Harrison, who was driving the Rav4 that day, wrote a victim impact statement. In it, she told the court that she had her grandson in the car with her, and that they were following his mom to an obstetrics appointment.
“The moment of the crash replays in my mind constantly,” Harrison wrote. “I think often about Cinnamon Gilch, who was killed that day instead of us.
“Her life was stolen in an instant, and I carry her memory with me as a reminder of how precious life is.”
Harrison told the judge that what happened in the crash was the result of Simon’s choices “that showed complete disregard for everyone else on the road.”
Paige Bauer, Gilch’s niece, said in a victim-impact statement that her aunt had a laugh you could hear two rooms away, that she was the life of the party and the one who took her out to celebrate her 21st birthday.
“She was a safe space and a feeling of home,” Bauer said. “She believed a good home-cooked meal had healing properties,” though she noted her aunt wouldn’t always share her recipes, prompting chuckles from her loved ones. She was famous for her homemade pumpkin roll.
Gilch had a strong faith, her niece said.
“Cinnamon would forgive you,” she told Simon.
The day Gilch died was her 10th wedding anniversary.
In her statement, Hutz told the judge that her sister was her best friend.
“Cinnamon was filled with joy and happiness,” she said. “She oozed hope and light.”
In the 1,018 days since her sister’s death, Hutz said, her grief has not faded.
“What makes this even harder to accept is that her death was preventable,” she said. “These were choices, and those choices had irreversible, horrendous consequences.”