Jeffrey Atkinson received seven years after a crash that cost Ashley Escalante part of her leg.

DAYTON, Ohio — A Dayton bar owner was sentenced to prison after admitting he drove drunk, hit a 9-year-old girl in a crosswalk and dragged her under his Hummer for nearly half a mile in July 2024.

Jeffrey Atkinson, 57, received a seven-year prison term and a 10-year driver’s license suspension in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court after pleading guilty to aggravated vehicular assault, endangering children, failure to stop after an accident and operating a vehicle while impaired. The sentencing closed a case that turned on security video, police body camera footage, blood alcohol testing and the words of a child who survived the crash.

Ashley Escalante, who is now almost 11, addressed Atkinson in court as family members cried nearby. She told him the crash changed her life and left her fighting through pain, surgery and a new way of moving through the world. “Today, I forgive you,” Ashley said in a statement read in court. “Not because you deserve it but because my heart doesn’t deserve to live full of hatred.” The statement became the emotional center of a hearing that still ended with the harshest sentence available under the plea agreement.

The crash happened July 22, 2024, at Wayne Avenue and Clover Street in Dayton, where Ashley was riding her bike with a friend while her family walked nearby. Investigators said Atkinson turned left in his Hummer and struck the child in the crosswalk. Ashley became trapped under the vehicle as it continued down the street. Witnesses called 911, followed the Hummer and directed police toward Atkinson after the vehicle stopped near a bar linked to him. Video showed sparks under the SUV as it moved away from the intersection with the child caught beneath it.

Ashley’s father, Carlos Escalante, later described running after the Hummer while carrying another child. He said he reached the passenger window and pleaded for the driver to stop. Her mother, Mayra Martinez, was among those who called for help after realizing her daughter had been pulled away from the crosswalk. Police found Ashley with severe injuries to both legs. Authorities said the lower part of her left leg, including her foot, was missing below the knee. The right leg also had major injuries, and emergency responders moved quickly to get her to trauma care.

Officers later encountered Atkinson near the bar, where bystanders had gathered and were yelling at him. Body camera video showed him walking out with his hands raised after police asked whether he owned the Hummer in the parking lot. Atkinson acknowledged the vehicle was his. When officers tried to conduct sobriety testing, he said he was too drunk to pass. Police said testing later showed a blood alcohol level of 0.34, more than four times Ohio’s legal limit of 0.08 for drivers. Local reporting also said investigators found marijuana and depressant narcotics in his system.

Atkinson’s own words became part of the public record after the body camera footage was released. He told officers he was impaired and drunk, at one point saying he owned a bar. The comments came after a hit-and-run that had drawn a crowd of witnesses and officers. Prosecutors said Atkinson did not stop after the collision and that the decision to keep driving worsened the harm. The Hummer traveled several blocks before witnesses helped police locate him. The case combined the familiar elements of an OVI prosecution with the lasting injuries of a child struck in front of her family.

The criminal case moved toward trial until mid-May 2026, when Atkinson changed course and accepted a plea. The trial had been expected to include video and photographs from the crash scene, and prosecutors had planned to show jurors the area on Wayne Avenue. The plea meant the jury would not see the full presentation. Prosecutors told the court the Escalante family agreed to the deal. Atkinson admitted guilt to four counts, and the sentencing range under the deal was shorter than what he could have faced after a trial conviction on all possible counts.

In court, the family’s words focused less on legal terms than on the daily cost of the crash. Martinez said the family had watched Ashley struggle to adapt to a new reality shaped by trauma, loss and fear. Ashley said the case was not only about an accident but about a life marked forever. Atkinson also addressed the court and said the guilt from the pain and suffering he caused would stay with him. Family members sobbed as the statements were read, and Atkinson was also heard crying during the hearing.

The judge was not persuaded to go below the top sentence allowed by the plea. Atkinson received seven years in prison, with local reporting describing the term as the minimum sentence under an indefinite range that could extend longer. The court also imposed a 10-year license suspension. The sentence reflected the charges that remained after the plea and the decision by prosecutors to proceed on the child endangering count after some counts merged for sentencing. The judge’s decision signaled that Ashley’s forgiveness did not erase the criminal weight of the crash.

For Ashley, the hearing came after nearly two years of surgeries, therapy and adjustment. Her family has said she has used a prosthetic leg and had to relearn how to walk. Earlier updates described numerous surgeries and a long recovery. The child’s public statement in court showed both the physical and emotional distance she had traveled since the night of the crash. She spoke of being near death and of refusing to let resentment control her life, even as she asked the judge to remember the seriousness of what happened.

Atkinson has been jailed since the night of the crash and is now headed to state prison. The criminal case stands resolved by his guilty plea and sentence, while Ashley’s recovery continues beyond the courtroom. The next formal milestone is the transfer and administration of his prison term under Ohio corrections rules.

Author note: Last updated July 7, 2026.