DAYTON — The man convicted of hitting his daughter with his truck before leading police on a chase that ended in a crash and shooting on U.S. 35 has learned his sentence.
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James Skirvin, 55, was sentenced Thursday to 58-63.5 years in prison.
As News Center 7 previously reported, Skirvin was found guilty of nearly every charge he was facing earlier this month.
He was found not guilty on two counts of felonious assault, but the jury followed up by convicting him on lesser charges for both counts.
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Skirvin was involved in a series of events that ended with a shooting on U.S. 35 in January 2024.
During his trial, he took the stand and said he wanted to commit “suicide by cop” that day.
After telling his brother he wanted to kill himself, he left his mobile home. He admitted on the stand to driving his truck “directly into the bench” that his daughter was sitting on and hit her.
From there, he drove off and was chased by police.
Skirvin testified he fired shots “in the air” from his shotgun during the chase and that he got shot three times during the pursuit.
He then crashed head-on into a Trotwood police cruiser at U.S. 35 and Liscum Drive. After the crash, there was gunfire from police.
Trotwood officer Michael Richardson was hurt when Skirvin crashed into his parked cruiser at the end of the chase. As shown on News Center 7 at 5:00, his niece spoke on his behalf at the sentencing, saying her uncle’s life has changed forever because of this.
“He had no opportunity to avoid a crash and no means to protect himself from the consequences,” Nadia Dexter said.
Dexter told the court her uncle suffered brain injuries and enough other damage that his career ended that day, something he’s still coming to grips with.
“There is also the unseen part,” she said. “Officer Richardson is now battling Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, and depression.”
Dexter also said Richardson has “lost not only his career, but also his sense of purpose and identity” that came with serving the community as an officer.
She claimed that Skirvin had no remorse. The judge asked Skirvin if he had anything to say on Thursday, and he offered only a brief apology.
“I apologize deeply to him and his family, and anyone else that was injured that day,” Skirvin said.
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