One of two drivers involved in an August 2023 crash south of Seymour that led to the death of a Greenfield woman was sentenced Thursday afternoon in Jackson Circuit Court.
Austin Robert Cooper, who was 22 and a resident of Austin at the time of the road rage incident that left Ashlea Albertson dead, will not serve any time in jail but will spend the next 1,822 days (five years) on probation, according to the sentenced handed down by Jackson Circuit Judge Richard W. Poynter. His license also was suspended for a year and he was ordered to pay $500 in restitution.
That sentence was the result of a plea agreement worked out between Cooper, represented by New Albany attorney Richard Rush and the prosecutor’s office. It called from him to plead guilty to causing death when operating a motor vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance in the blood, a Level 4 felony.
In exchange, the state agreed to dismiss a second charge of reckless homicide where the defendant killed another human being with a vehicle, a Level 5 felony.
Poynter said he doesn’t usually get involved and make any changes to plea agreements because the attorneys for the state and defense know more about the case than he does.
He also said giving Cooper jail time would not change the outcome of the case, but he hoped Cooper — the father of two — had learned something from the incident.
“You see today what your actions did,” Poynter said.
Albertson’s father, Todd Albertson, was one of six family members who gave a victim impact statement.
He told Cooper he loved him.
“You and I will be forever linked together,” he said. “You are a father and I am a father.”
Albertson said he hoped Cooper would be better in the future and an advocate for change.
“It’s not road rage,” he said. “It’s a lack of respect.”
Albertson said he plans to be an advocate against road rage and talk about it whenever he can.
“I don’t care if its 100 people or 100,000 people,” he said.
Ashlea Albertson’s mother, Tiffany Collins, grandmother Coni Lee, sisters, Emilea and Tara Albertson, and stepmother, Shelly Albertson, also read victim impact statements.
All of them described Ashlea as woman who knew what she wanted, who wasn’t afraid of anything and a source of strength to all who knew her.
“She had a laugh that was contagious,” Collins said of her daughter who was a driver of a TQ midget for three-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart’s team.
She said her daughter’s dream was to make it to the Indianapolis 500 and she did after her death.
“There’s brick with her name on it there,” Collins said.
Shelly Albertson said she was not happy with the plea agreement and not unhappy with it either because it was out of her hands.
She also urged Cooper to make a difference but did not hate him for what happened to her stepdaughter.
“That doesn’t change the outcome,” she said.
Tara Albertson just asked Cooper to remember the smallest action can have the biggest impact.
The jury trial of Jacob Kelly, 31, of Indianapolis, who also was charged with reckless homicide where the defendant killed another human being with a vehicle, in connection with the same incident, is set for 8:30 a.m. Dec. 3 in Jackson Circuit Court.
Kelly was Ashlea Albertson’s fiancé.
The investigation by the Indiana State Police Versailles Post crash reconstruction team indicates that on Aug. 18, 2023, a black 2016 Chevrolet Malibu, being driven by Cooper, was traveling northbound in the right lane of Interstate 65 near the 48 mile marker, while a white 2018 GMC Terrain, being driven by Kelly, was traveling north in the left lane.
Evidence from the scene, including video footage captured by another vehicle, indicated the two drivers began accelerating rapidly and refused to allow the other vehicle to pass, according to a news release from Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, public information officer for the Versailles Post.
Cooper’s vehicle then began to change lanes into the path of Kelly’s vehicle. Kelly lost control of his vehicle and spun, which resulted in the two vehicles colliding in the middle of the northbound lanes.
Kelly’s vehicle rolled, which resulted in Albertson being ejected from the vehicle. Cooper’s vehicle left the east side of the roadway and came to rest in a field.
Kelly and Albertson were flown from the scene to University of Louisville Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, for treatment. After arriving there, Albertson was pronounced deceased, and Kelly was treated for injuries and later released.
Cooper and a juvenile passenger were transported to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries and later released.
The post-crash investigation determined the vehicles were traveling next to each other when both drivers accelerated to speeds in excess of 90 mph at the time of the crash, Wheeles said.
Toxicology results were obtained on both drivers after the crash. The results of those tests indicated Cooper had THC in his system when the crash occurred, Wheeles said.
At the conclusion of the investigation, the case was presented to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office for review. As a result, Cooper and Kelly were charged with the felonies.
In November of 2023, Kelly was arrested without incident in Indianapolis in November of 2023, and Cooper turned himself in at the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown during the same month.
