TOLEDO, Ohio — Reginald "Reggie" Foster Sr.'s 56th birthday celebration two years ago was his last. On July 11, 2023, he was killed in a hit-and-run in central Toledo.
"He wasn't just an uncle. He was a father figure, and very present in all of our lives," said Foster's niece, Amber Davis.
Ashly Clark, 30, pleaded guilty to assault on Oct. 21. She had previously been indicted on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide and failure to stop after an accident and pleaded not guilty, but eventually took a plea deal to the lesser charge.
Clark's sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday at 1 p.m. in the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas.
According to court documents, Clark was on the run before she was arrested by police, which Davis said was difficult for the family to deal with.
"For a whole year, she ran. We didn't have a person to say how this happened," Davis said.
Clark admitted she was under the influence of marijuana and alcohol while driving a stolen car at the time of the accident, court documents show.
Foster's sister, Jacqueline Foster Johnson, says she wants to move on, but it has been difficult.
"We understand it was a horrific accident, that we can accept that things happen. But for the person who caused Reggie's end of life, didn't reach out to get him help, rolled around his body, did everything to evade being accountable," said Johnson. "We are a forgiving family, I don't want to carry this malice on my heart. I want to be able to forgive her."
Clark's plea deal and the fact that she had a valid license opened the possibility of probation without jail time.
"I'm hoping that Miss Clark receives the maximum plus lifetime suspension of her license. She needs to be off the roads," said Foster's daughter, Tequila Elston-Foster.
She added that Clark's plea deal was like a slap in the face.
"There's nothing we can ever do to clear this up. There's nothing I can do to bring my dad back," Elston-Foster said. "Me and my dad always would say forever and always we love each other. All the time we would tell each other that. But we didn't know our forever and always would come so soon."
His other daughter, Shaquell Foster, also said Clark did irreparable damage to the family.
"She left a permanent hole in my kids, my life and my siblings' life that can never be filled by anyone or anything," she said. "He was our world and trying to find peace in a situation like this is nearly impossible. She deserves to spend the rest of her life behind bars while we visit our dad in a graveyard just to feel close to him."
Davis says the family believes Clark deserves the maximum sentence of six years.
"She definitely deserves that time. She had time to spend with her family. She had time to spend with her children, starting the day that it happened," she said.