Trucker indicted in deadly 29 crash

A Waynesboro truck driver was indicted Monday in a May 9 crash that killed 16-year-old Albemarle High School student Sydney Aichs.

Kenneth Barbour, 54, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and reckless driving, a misdemeanor that carries up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine, in connection with the collision that killed Aichs as she was driving to school.

“We recognize the sad fact that the lives of two families have been dramatically and irrevocably altered by the events that occurred on the morning of May 9,” said Denise Lunsford, Albemarle County’s commonwealth’s attorney.

Over the past month, investigators with the Albemarle County Police Department, Virginia State Police, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Virginia Department of Transportation have sought to determine what caused the crash at the intersection of U.S. 29 and Ashwood Boulevard.

Lunsford declined to reveal any results of the investigation Monday. However, in the aftermath of the crash, police said that Barbour’s tractor-trailer was traveling north on U.S. 29 and failed to stop at the traffic signal. At 7:08 a.m., Aichs’ 1999 Chevy Cavalier was exiting the Forest Lakes neighborhood and turning south onto the highway. As Barbour’s truck entered the intersection, it struck Aichs’ vehicle, police said.

Aichs was pronounced dead at the scene. Barbour, who was employed by the Don B. Swisher Trucking Corp., was not injured.

Barbour has not yet been arrested, though he will be soon, Lunsford said. His trial date has not yet been set.

Attempts to reach Barbour at home were unsuccessful, as his phone has been disconnected.

Lunsford asked the media to respect the privacy of the Aichs family.

Friends have remembered Aichs, a soccer player, as caring and fun-loving.

When a longtime classmate’s dog died, Aichs baked him brownies.

“She was the most caring and cheerful girl I know,” said the classmate, R. Scott Schuett. “Sydney would crack sarcastic remarks at you every class, but truly did it because she cared.”

A Facebook group established in Aichs’ memory hours after her death has grown to include 1,347 members. A poem written in her honor is posted on the Web site. It reads in part:

“Nothing has ever been the same since that day you died/You were finally coming home until that horrible accident took your life/ You were our best friend/ you helped us in so many ways/But even though your gone/We still remember you today/Why did the car have to crash/Why were you the one taken away/We ask ourselfs those questions/Each and everyday.”