Driver gets 2 years in wreck fatal to teen girl

A former Waynesboro tractor-trailer driver whose rig hit and killed a 16-year-old Albemarle County girl will serve two years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.

Circuit Judge Cheryl Higgins sentenced Kenneth Barbour to the prison term this morning in Albemarle Circuit Court. Barbour, who has been out on a $7,500 bond, is scheduled to report to the courthouse next Tuesday to start serving his sentence.

Barbour, 55, was driving a tractor-trailer for the Don B. Swisher Trucking Corp. on May 9 northbound on U.S. 29. Authorities have said he went through the red light at the intersection of U.S. 29 and Ashwood Boulevard, hitting Sydney Aichs as she made a left turn from Ashwood onto U.S. 29 southbound.

Higgins sentenced Barbour to 10 years on the manslaughter charge, suspending all but two years. The judge also sentenced him to a suspended sentence of six months in jail and a $500 fine on a reckless driving charge. Under the sentence, Barbour will serve one year of supervised probation after his release and he will have to be on good behavior for 10 years. His driver’s license also will be suspended for six months.