DAYTON — The man accused of hitting his daughter with his truck before leading police on a chase that ended in a crash and shooting took the stand at his trial on Wednesday.
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Wednesday was the first time we’ve heard from 55-year-old James Skirvin since the January 2024 incident that resulted in his arrest.
As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, he said he wanted to commit “suicide by cop” while on the stand.
“I decided that I have nothing left to live for at this point in time,” he said.
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Skirvin remembered that in January 2024, stresses in his life, like a broken marriage, were piling up. He also recalled telling his brother, inside his brother’s mobile home in Trotwood, that he wanted to kill himself.
“He said to me clearly, ‘You’re not going to kill yourself in my house,‘” Skirvin recounted. “I said, ‘No I’m not, the police are.’ And then after that, I got in my truck and drove away.”
Prosecutors say Skirvin had just got into an argument with his daughter after leaving his wife in Florida and driving to Trotwood.
Skirvin testified that’s when he snapped.
“I came across the median and I drove my truck directly into the bench that my daughter was sitting on and I hit her,” he said. “I can’t take it back. I - obviously, I intended on hurting her, not killing her. She’s my child, I love her, I raised her but it happened.”
He eventually took off, leading police on a chase.
Skirvin testified he fired shots “in the air” from his shotgun during the chase and that he got shot three times during the pursuit.
“As I passed the officers, I do know that I took one in a leg, at least one in the arm, and one in [the] chest,” he said.
Skirvin testified that was before video showed him crashing head-on into a Trotwood police cruiser at the end of the chase as U.S. 35 and Liscum Drive.
He also said he doesn’t remember the impact but called the video he’s seen of it since “horrific.” He also said he was trying to control his truck while losing consciousness.
After the crash, there was gunfire from police.
The defense rested its case Wednesday afternoon and prosecutors will not call any rebuttal witnesses. That means closing arguments will take place Thursday morning before the case is handed over to a jury for deliberation.
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