Additional information has been released regarding the fatal accident Wednesday involving a local high school student.

At 7:10am, emergency personnel were dispatched to the scene of a two-vehicle collision on County Road 14, just off of 19, which involved a car and a large truck outfitted with a trailer hauling a bulldozer.

It was soon confirmed by Cherokee County Coroner Dr. Jeremy Deaton, that one individual was fatally injured in that crash.  Colby Jake Slayton, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene with the cause of death being multiple blunt force trauma. 

Slayton was a junior at Spring Garden High School.

According to information in the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency accident report Slayton, driving a 2008 Cadillac, was traveling eastbound into the sunlight when his vehicle crashed into the rear of the trailer – which was parked in the roadway – after the driver of the 2007 International truck had stopped, preparing to offload the bulldozer.  The name of the driver of the truck was not listed on the accident report according to the trooper post. 

County Road 14 was closed in both directions for an extended period of time following that wreck, as an investigation into the accident was being conducted.  The lead agency was the Cherokee County Coroner’s Office and Dr. Jeremy Deaton, with Alabama State Troopers, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, Floyd EMS, the Cherokee County Rescue Squad and the Mt Weisner Fire Department all responding.

This is the second Cherokee County student in less than two weeks to tragically die as the result of a wreck; 17 year old Cedar Bluff High School senior Damien Hymbaugh lost his life on May 5th in a motorcycle accident.