DAYTON — The man who hit, dragged, and badly injured a 9-year-old girl will be in prison for at least seven years.
Jeffrey Atkinson knocked Ashley Escalante off her bike on Wayne Avenue on July 22, 2024.
News Center 7’s Mike Campbell was in the courtroom on Thursday when Atkinson was sentenced. He received the maximum sentence he could get after taking a plea deal.
Atkinson changed his mind and decided not to go to trial. He likely decided he didn’t want the jury to see video and pictures of him knocking Ashley off her bike and dragging her a half mile down the road.
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Atkinson pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular assault, child endangering and OVI. Police said he hit Ashley as she rode her bike, with her family, on a crosswalk, with his blood-alcohol levels more than 4 times the legal limit.
Investigators said he didn’t stop after the collision, creating severe injuries that almost took Ashley’s life and caused one of her legs to be amputated.
Ashley’s parents, Carlos Escalante and Mayra Martinez, talked with News Center 7 last July. They had too much emotion to talk today, and instead asked a victim’s advocate to read letters they wrote.
Escalante family members, including Ashley, sobbed during the reading of the letters. News Center 7’s Mike Campbell said he heard Atkinson crying too.
The emotions came through louder when the advocate read a letter written by Ashley, who is almost 11 years old now.
“That day, I lived the greatest fear that a human being can feel, being on the verge of death. Because of your act of cruelty, my life changed forever.”
Ashley continued by saying, “Today, I forgive you. Not because you deserve it but because my heart doesn’t deserve to live full of hatred. I don’t want resentment to control my life.”
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