REILY TOWNSHIP, Ohio – A Hamilton High School graduate was killed and a classmate and another student were seriously injured when a car went off Hamilton-Scipio Road Sunday night, the Butler County Sheriff's Office said.
A passenger, Daniel Accorinti, 18, of Hamilton, died in the crash about 7:30 p.m. Accorinti and the driver, 18-year-old Travis Owens of Hamilton, were good friends and had just graduated from Hamilton High, a classmate said.
Jimmy Wyrick, also a 2016 Hamilton grad, said the trio liked to hunt, fish and shoot.
“Danny was a really great guy, would help anyone,” Wyrick said.
Deputies suspect Owens was speeding when he lost control coming over a hill. The 2010 Camaro rolled over several times before coming to rest in a field.
Hamilton High Principal John Wilhelm called it "a very sorrowful day."
A very sorrowful day for our building & community. Please keep the Accorinti family in your thoughts & prayers. Be supportive. Stay positive
— John Wilhelm (@Mr_Wilhelm_HHS) June 27, 2016
"Danny was a nice young man," Wilhelm told WCPO. "He was very honest, hard-working and very funny, too."
Accorinti was in the automotive program learning to be a mechanic, Wilhelm said.
"He spent part of the time here with his studies, but also worked in a work study program with a local company, Rubber Duck 4x4," the principal said. "Next year he was scheduled to go on to automotive school at Lincoln Tech in Indianapolis."
Accorinti was already working as a diesel mechanic, Wyrick said. “He was a really good mechanic."
Owens was flown to University of Cincinnati Hospital Medical Center. Another passenger, a 17-year-old female, was transported to Fort Hamilton Hospital. She is a junior at Hamilton High.
"[Owens] was in our carpentry program as well as our Career Center," Wilhelm said. "Travis is a very good young man."
The crash is still under investigation, and Sgt. Melissa Gerhardt didn't rule out charges.
"Charges are always possible when someone dies in a crash like this," she said. "It's still early. We don't have all of the factors yet."
The Journal-News contributed to this report.
