FLORENCE — A Colbert County man involved in a fatal traffic accident in March has been charged with manslaughter, officials said.

Court officials said Stanley Ross Rickard, 43, 1300 Barnes St., Tuscumbia, is charged with manslaughter after a forensic report indicated he was driving under the influence of a controlled substance when the accident occurred.

Rickard was involved in a head-on collision in north Florence that killed Roland LaDarryl Dawson, 39, of 107 Royal Oak Road, Florence. The accident occurred March 8 on North Wood Avenue near Hampton Avenue. The Florence Police Department investigated the accident.

“Once we got the forensic report back, substances were found in his system at the time of the wreck,” Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly said. “That was the final piece of evidence that we felt we needed to charge him.”

Connolly declined to go into details about the kind of substances found.

Police said Rickard was injured in the crash and was treated at Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital.

Dawson was driving a 1992 Lexus traveling north on Wood Avenue, based on police reports. Rickard was driving a 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer, which was traveling south.

Police investigators worked with state troopers to recreate the accident as a part of the investigation before turning their findings over to the district attorney’s office.

Rickard has been released from the Lauderdale County Detention Center on a $10,000 bond.

Manslaughter is a Class B felony and is punishable by 2-20 years in prison if convicted.

Tom Smith can be reached at 256-740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.