JACKSON COUNTY — One of the drivers involved in the fatal crash that took the life of Greenfield race car driver Ashlea Albertson was sentenced for his part in what officials say was a “road rage” accident that happened Aug. 18, 2023.
Court records show Austin R. Cooper, 21, Austin, had his case settled via plea agreement in Jackson Circuit Court July 19 and will not serve any jail time. According to court records, Cooper was given a plea deal where he plead guilty to a Level 4 felony count of causing death when operating a motor vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance.
The judge handed down a five-year term (1,825 days) to be served at the Indiana Department of Corrections, but then suspended 1,822 days of the term, meaning Cooper will serve the sentence through the Jackson County Probation Department. Cooper got two days of jail credit for time served. Court records also show the Level 5 felony count of reckless homicide-recklessly kills another using a vehicle charge he was also facing was dismissed.
Albertson, 24, was a passenger in a vehicle when she was killed in a car crash on I-65 in Seymour on Aug. 18, 2023. Officials say the crash happened after it appeared the car she was in and another vehicle driven by Cooper were involved in an incident.
Albertson was a passenger traveling with her fiancé Jacob Kelly, 32, Indianapolis, who has also been charged in her death. Kelly is facing a Level 5 felony count of reckless homicide where defendant recklessly kills another human being using a vehicle. His case is also being heard in Jackson County Circuit Court and is currently slated for a jury trial in early December.
The investigation by the Indiana State Police-Versailles Crash Reconstruction Team indicated that on August 18 a black 2016 Chevrolet Malibu driven by Cooper was traveling northbound in the right lane of I-65 near the 48-mile marker. A white 2018 GMC Terrain driven by Kelly was traveling northbound in the left lane of I-65 at the same location.
Officials noted 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.
Cooper’s vehicle began to change lanes into the path of Kelly’s vehicle, officials said. 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 his female passenger, Albertson, being ejected from the vehicle. Cooper’s vehicle left the east side of the roadway and came to rest in a field.
The post-crash investigation determined the vehicles were traveling next to each other when both drivers accelerated to speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour at the time of the crash. Toxicology results were obtained on both drivers with results of those tests indicating Cooper had THC in his system when the crash occurred.
Albertson was a local race car driver.
The Daily Reporter published a story about Albertson in 2021 when she was making a name for herself in racing. She told the Daily Reporter then how much she loved working in a field dominated by men.
At the time, Albertson noted, she spent most of her free time working on her black and blue three-quarter midget car, with hot pink lettering, in a large barn at her father’s rural Greenfield home.
In May of 2021, Albertson said she got hooked on racing at an early age and hadn’t let up on the pedal ever since.
“It’s the experience behind it all; you meet so many people who become like family,” she said.
In her first 11 years of racing, her father told the Daily Reporter that she had never finished outside of the top 10.
Albertson fell in love with racing at the age of 10, the first time she ever climbed behind the wheel, she had noted. A friend of her dad’s invited them to a track event where prospective drivers tested midget cars, and Albertson was hooked.
“She got behind the wheel and just took off,” her father Todd Albertson said. “It was one of the coolest things I’d ever experienced.”
