Tuscaloosa Man Indicted for Manslaughter of Retired Trooper Killed in August Crash

A Tuscaloosa man who reportedly caused a deadly three-vehicle crash that killed a retired State Trooper last year has been indicted for manslaughter after a grand jury heard evidence he was speeding and intoxicated at the time.

As the Thread reported at the time of the accident, State Troopers say on the morning of August 8th, 2024, 29-year-old Daaron M. Crooks was driving a 2011 Mazda 6S at high speed when he clipped a 2012 Hyundai Accent being driven by 63-year-old Daryl W. Brown.

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The initial collision sent Brown's sedan into the guardrail of the far right lane and left him disabled and in the path of oncoming traffic. He was then struck by a 2023 Freightliner tractor-trailer at speed, which destroyed the sedan and caused the truck to jack-knife, strike a concrete barrier, catch fire and explode. The truck driver, a Georgia man, was injured but survived.

Crooks' Mazda left the roadway and overturned, coming to a stop upside down between the two directions of interstate travel. He was hurt but lived through the wreck.

Brown was a Livingston native and retired State Trooper who was working at the federal courthouse in downtown Tuscaloosa. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency's report after the deadly accident said he was wearing a seatbelt and driving the speed limit in the slow lane at the time of the initial impact, but the second hit from the 18-wheeler ejected him from the Hyundai and left the 63-year-old dead at the scene.

Now, six months after the deadly wreck, Crooks has been indicted by a grand jury and charged with manslaughter for Brown's death and also felony assault of the truck driver who was hurt in the wreck.

A State Trooper's crash report obtained by the Tuscaloosa Thread said police believe Crooks was driving 104 miles per hour when he struck Brown's vehicle and a toxicology test showed he had drugs in his system at the time of the crash.

The grand jury assembled earlier in February and found cause to indict Daaron Michael Crooks on one count of manslaughter and one count of second-degree assault.

The Tuscaloosa man had previously pleaded robbery and attempted murder charges from 2015 down to second-degree assault, but he allegedly violated probation this January and was already being held in the Tuscaloosa County Jail when the manslaughter indictment was returned.

He remained jailed Wednesday - his bond for the new manslaughter and assault charges has been set at $30,000, but a judge will have to decide whether to revoke probation on the 2015 charges before he is eligible for release on the new charges.

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