Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
DUI manslaughter convict jailed after 14 years on run
Driver killed woman, then fled to Bahamas
Trent Albury was handed a prison sentence for killing a woman in a DUI crash, but when it came time to turn himself in, he cut off his ankle bracelet and fled to the Bahamas, where he lived for the past 14 years.
This week, Albury’s freedom finally came to an end, when he was extradited to South Florida to begin his long-postponed 13-year sentence for a DUI manslaughter conviction after running a red light while high on the “date rape” drug GHB. The May 26, 2000, crash ended the life of Dawn
“She was a wonderful person and he was high on GHB and driving like a lunatic.” Ellen Roberts, former prosecutor
Sheppard, a 44-year-old mother of two on her way to a graduation ceremony at King’s Academy where she worked and one of her children attended school.
Albury, 44, was booked into the Palm Beach County jail on Tuesday. Prosecutors said it’s not clear whether he would face extra time for running.
“We’ve been after him and after him. He’s in the can now,” said retired prosecutor Ellen Roberts, who worked the case for the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.
After Albury was taken into custody, Roberts said her former secretary reached Sheppard’s husband, who was surprised to learn Albury was finally brought back to the U.S. to face his punishment. Richard Sheppard could not be reached for comment Thursday.
In 2010 he told the Sun Sentinel: “There’s nothing I can do to make amends or get even. There’s nothing I can do to get even, but I would like to see him pay his dues . ... If he’d have done his time and got out on good behavior, he’d probably be out by now.”
Roberts could never shake the case. Once while on vacation in the Bahamas, she attempted to reach Albury. She went to his known address, but he wasn’t home at the time, she said.
“It was [a] very important [case]; he killed an innocent woman,” Roberts said. “She was a wonderful person and he was high on GHB and driving like a lunatic, ran a red light and killed her. Got to pay your price, pay your dues.”
After he was sentenced in 2001, Albury appealed the conviction and was out on bond. He lost his appeal and was supposed to show up to serve his sentence in March 2003. Instead, he cut off his ankle monitor and fled to the Bahamas where he was briefly jailed on the Palm Beach County warrant. A Bahamian magistrate agreed with Albury’s conviction, but Albury appealed that decision and was again out on bond.
Now, his time has finally run out and he can no longer remain free, said Manny Puri, assistant chief of the U.S. Marshals Service.
“Once he exhausted all of his trying to fight extradition, he was remanded into custody,” Puri said.
Through the years, authorities kept an eye on Albury and knew his whereabouts. Finally, on Nov. 29, an order was issued to extradite him, Puri said. He was arrested in The Abaco islands in the northern Bahamas, transferred to Nassau on Monday and to South Florida the following day.
Before Dawn Sheppard was killed, she had just begun to return to normalcy after surviving breast cancer, her husband told the Sun Sentinel in 2010. She died at the intersection of Okeechobee Boulevard and Sansbury’s Way west of West Palm Beach.
As she pulled her Nissan Quest into the intersection, Albury rammed her van with his Ford F-150 pickup. The impact was so hard that Sheppard’s seat was pushed toward the back of the van, her husband said.
Roberts says Albury’s apprehension may give Sheppard’s family some closure. She said Albury himself didn’t offer relatives any solace during his sentencing 16 years ago. He did not apologize at the time, she said.
“He did not show any remorse, “she said. “He claimed there was nothing wrong with him, or he didn’t do it because he wasn’t high on GHB. But that wasn’t true.”