Truck driver pleads guilty in wreck that killed Albemarle teen

A tractor-trailer driver involved in an accident that killed a 16-year-old Albemarle High School junior pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving this morning in Albemarle County Circuit Court.

The family of the victim, Sydney Aichs, was present for Kenneth Barbour’s guilty plea. The plea was not part of a plea agreement, which means Barbour faces up to 10 years for manslaughter and up to 12 months in jail for reckless driving.

On May 9, authorities said, Aichs was making a left turn onto U.S. 29 from Ashwood Boulevard. Witnesses noticed that a tractor-trailer driving northbound on U.S. 29 didn’t slow down for the red light, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jon R. Zug said in court.

The tractor-trailer hit Aichs’ 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier, pushing it 40 yards and crushing the center of the car’s driver door inward 26 inches, Zug said.

A doctor who witnessed the accident told police that Aichs did not die immediately, but he was unable to help her after the crash. Aichs was pronounced dead at the scene.

Barbour, 55, was driving the tractor-trailer for the Don B. Swisher Trucking Corp. Zug said in court that Barbour had slept the night before, did not fall asleep at the wheel and did not have alcohol in his system at the time of the accident.

“It is probable that he was distracted by something in the cab when the light turned from green to red,” Zug said in court.

Witnesses told police that Barbour was driving about 50 mph before the accident occurred. After the accident, authorities reduced the speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph between Polo Grounds Road and Airport Road. The Forest Lakes Community Association also shifted the subdivision’s entrance sign away from the road to improve driver visibility.

Barbour is scheduled to be sentenced July 28. He remains free on bond.