A Northern California man who gunned down a little girl’s parents in front of her was sentenced Thursday to nearly 141 years to life behind bars.
Russell Martin Albers, 45, learned his fate in Humboldt County Superior Court, nearly four years after the horrific double slaying in Eureka.
The courtroom turned emotional as family members delivered heartbreaking victim impact statements before the judge slammed Albers with a sentence that will likely ensure he dies behind bars.
“I would like Mr. Albers to know he took a part of our family away. I hope and I pray that Mr. Albers dies in prison,” a family member of the victim said in court according to Kym Kemp.
Judge Kelly Neel made clear Albers deserved every year of his punishment.
“There were so many chances for you to turn around and not do what you did,” Neel said, blasting him for carrying out the murders “in front of a baby” and adding that he “earned every day.”
The victims’ family said the bloodshed shattered generations.
“He took my sister. He did this and made my niece watch. He robbed my niece of having her parents,” the killer’s ex-girlfriend and sister of the victim also said.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call reporting gunshots and a child screaming in the background of a Eureka home on December 27, 2022.
When deputies arrived, they discovered three gunshot victims, two of whom tragically died from their injuries. A four-year-old girl was also found at the scene.
The killer’s former girlfriend was at the Eureka home of Jennifer Paddock and Paddock’s partner, Danny Garcia, prior to the incident.
When Albers had arrived at the home, he forced his way into the home by fatally shooting Paddock and Garcia in front of the couple’s four-year-old child.
He also shot a family friend and his old girlfriend, but she was dropped off at a hospital by Albers before he ultimately fled.
Albers was eventually arrested the following day in McKinleyville – about a 20-minute drive from Eureka – following a high-speed police pursuit.
Prior to the sentencing, the killer decided to take on a plea deal and pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.
