Albrecht was known as quiet and friendly but reports say he was in a drunken rage the night of his death

By Juontel White

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 9/5/07 — Carter Albrecht, a keyboard player for the Texas band Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, was shot to death early Monday while trying to kick down the door of his girlfriend’s neighbor, police said.

The shooting death falls under state law permitting deadly force in self-defense, police said Tuesday. A grand jury will decide whether the man who shot Jeffrey Carter Albrecht will be indicted, but Dallas Police Sgt. Larry Lewis no charges are being pursued.

It was about 4 a.m. when Albrecht walked from his girlfriend’s house to her next-door neighbor’s.

“He was at his girlfriend’s house last night,” said Danny Balis, singer and guitar and keyboard player in the Dallas rock band Sorta and Albrecht’s roommate. “He left the house and went next door and — for whatever reason, which we don’t know — he knocked on the neighbor’s door. And from what I understand, he was persistent. I don’t know if there was a verbal exchange, but the person panicked and fired a shot through the door.”

The neighbor’s included a husband and wife; the husband rushed downstairs with a shotgun after his wife screamed a burglar was trying to knock down the door. The husband then shot and fired.

The shot struck Albrecht in the head and he immediately died at the scene. His death shocked those who knew him on the Northern Texas music scene.

According to police reports Albrecht struck his girlfriend in the face several times, she fell and he then hit her in her back as she was down. She devised a way to lock him out of the house, after which he headed towards the neighbor’s house in a drunken rage, according to police.

Albrecht’s girlfriend suffered no serious injury but had bruises on her face. The couple does not have a history of domestic violence and his friends considered him to be friendly and quiet.

“He is not a violent person,” said Carrie Garcia, Sorta’s manager. “He is cool as a cucumber, shy, always wanted to make a joke in a situation that may be a little tense.”

Albrecht, who preferred his middle name, Carter, was working on a solo album that Balis called “the best thing he has ever done.”

“He was the best musician I’ve ever played with — no question,” Balis continued. “He could play anything. It’s a shame not enough people outside of Dallas heard him.”

No arrests have been made and police are still investigating this sudden murder case.