Man sentenced to 20 years in drive-thru 'night of terror' incident

The man seen on a McDonald's surveillance video taking a child from a woman he had badly beaten was found guilty Friday of three charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

After two days of deliberations, jurors found Levenski Crossty guilty of abducting the woman, his onetime girlfriend, as well as aggravated burglary and felonious assault. The jury, however, came back with not guilty verdicts on kidnapping and other abduction charges related to the four children who also were in the car that night.

“I find you extremely disturbing, sir. I find you extremely violent,” Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Jody Luebbers said before imposing the sentence.

“You terrorized her,” Luebbers said, “in front of your child and three other children.”

The incident happened July 13, 2016 during what Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Broo called “a night of terror” for Jessica Wilson. Crossty is the father of the 2-year-old girl Wilson tried to hand to a McDonald's employee at a drive-thru window.

As Crossty drove to various places that night, Broo said he beat Wilson repeatedly in front of the children. The 2-year-old was in her lap; the other three children were in the back seat.

The children, Broo said, were screaming and crying “while their mother was beaten before their eyes.”

Mom describes 'terror' with child at drive-thru window

The assaults left Wilson with black eyes, bite marks, bruises to her body and a cut to her forehead.

Crossty spoke briefly before being sentenced, saying he had apologized to Wilson many times.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” he said. “I didn’t do the charges I got found guilty of.”

His attorney, Stephan Madden, told Luebbers that Crossty took the children from Wilson that night to protect them. Madden had previously said she was intoxicated.

“I know he regrets what he did to her on that particular night," Madden said. “He was trying to protect the children, in the end."

Earlier that day, Crossty broke into the house where Wilson was staying with her children. Eventually, Crossty, Wilson and the children ended up in a car, driving to various locations.

According to testimony, he accused Wilson of cheating on him. He demanded her smartphone and the passcode, so he could look at her text messages. Wilson testified the beating continued even after she gave him the passcode.

She said they went to the Sayler Park McDonald’s after she told him the children needed food.

"When people at the McDonald's tried to help," Luebbers said, "you stole the child from her mother and you drove away with that car door open, endangering the children and others."

Police: Abducted woman tried to use drive-thru to save child