Charges against an Elberta man have been elevated to manslaughter following the death of a motorcyclist injured in a two-vehicle wreck on County Road 83 earlier this year, according to the Elberta Police Department.
Richard Albright, 58, who lives in Elberta, was initially arrested on a DUI charge at the scene of the May crash. After the victim, 57-year-old Steven Watkins of Pensacola, Florida, later died from his injuries, police upgraded the case against Albright to include manslaughter and first-degree assault charges. He was booked into Baldwin County Corrections and was later released on a $50,000 bond.
According to investigators, the crash occurred on a Saturday evening as Albright was driving a pickup truck westbound on County Road 83 with a passenger. At the same time, Watkins was riding a motorcycle eastbound on the same road with a passenger, 49-year-old Carol Greenwood, also of Pensacola.
Police say the wreck happened when Albright attempted a left turn from the westbound lane toward a gas station near the intersection of County Road 83 and County Road 20. An Elberta police sergeant said Albright turned directly into the path of the oncoming motorcycle, and the motorcycle struck the passenger side of his pickup truck.
Watkins was taken to a hospital in Pensacola for treatment, where he later died from his injuries, according to police. Greenwood, his passenger, was also transported to the hospital to be treated for injuries sustained in the crash, though authorities said she was not seriously hurt. Albright’s passenger similarly avoided serious injury.
The case highlights a familiar and sobering pattern in fatal crashes along Baldwin County’s rural highways, where left turns across oncoming traffic on two-lane roads remain one of the more common causes of serious motorcycle collisions. Investigators have not indicated whether additional charges are expected as the case moves through Baldwin County’s court system.
The Elberta Police Department said the investigation into the crash, which was originally reported shortly after 8 p.m., is considered part of the broader case now working through the county’s criminal justice process following Watkins’ death.