SEYMOUR – A man was sentenced in his role in an August 2023 crash south of Seymour that led to the death of a Greenfield woman Thursday afternoon in Jackson Circuit Court.
Austin Robert Cooper, who was 22 and a resident of Austin when the crash occurred and left Ashlea Albertson dead, will not serve prison time but will spend five years on supervised probation.
Albertson, 24, was a driver of a TQ midget for three-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart’s team. Ashlea Albertson was a passenger in a white 2018 GMC Terrain driven by Jacob Kelly. Kelly and Ashlea were engaged and were set to be married in 2024.
Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Richard Poyner sentenced Cooper after he pleaded guilty to the crime in a negotiated plea deal. Cooper pleaded guilty to causing death when operating a motor vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance in the blood, a Level 4 felony. A charge of reckless homicide where the defendant killed another human being with a vehicle, a Level 5 felony, was dismissed.
Cooper had THC in his system at the time of the crash.
In November 2023, Kelly was arrested without incident in Indianapolis, and Cooper turned himself in at the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown during the same month.
Judge Poyner said that giving Cooper jail time during the sentencing would not change the case outcome. He told Cooper that he hoped he had learned something from the incident. Cooper is the father of two small children.
Judge Poyner suspended Cooper’s license for a year and ordered him to pay $500 in restitution.
Albertson’s family read victim statements at the sentencing and were not happy with the sentencing.
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. on December 3, 2024, in Jackson Circuit Court.
According to police, video footage from the scene showed that Kelly’s GMC Terrain and Austin Cooper’s black Chevrolet Malibu engaged in a dangerous contest of speed while traveling northbound on I-65
According to an investigation by the Indiana State Police Versailles Post crash reconstruction team on August 18, 2023, a black 2016 Chevrolet Malibu, driven by Cooper, was traveling north 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 and video footage captured by another vehicle indicated that the two drivers accelerated rapidly and refused to let the other vehicle pass.
According to Indiana State Police Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, the vehicles traveled next to each other when both drivers accelerated to more than 90 miles per hour.
Cooper’s vehicle then began to change lanes into Kelly’s path. Kelly lost control of his car and spun, resulting in the two vehicles colliding in the middle of the northbound lanes.
Kelly’s vehicle rolled, ejecting Albertson.
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 the University of Louisville Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, for treatment. Albertson died from her injuries at the hospital. 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.
