By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA–A 29-year-old Bessemer man who is facing charges of manslaughter, unlawful distribution of a controlled substance and leaving the scene of an accident with injuries after his alleged involvement in a fatal hit-and-run accident in Helena has been released from the Shelby County Jail after posting bonds totaling $75,000.

Damian Lamar Jackson, who lists an address in the 400 block of Raimund Avenue in Bessemer, posted bond on May 6, after spending a little more than a year in jail on two felony counts.

Jackson was arrested and charged with manslaughter, unlawful distribution of a controlled substance and leaving the scene of an accident with injuries on May 3, 2016. The charges came after 33-year-old Helena resident Holley Myrick was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident on the afternoon of Monday, May 2, 2016.

Jackson allegedly struck her with a Yukon XL SUV and fled the scene of the accident, but was later apprehended after an Alabaster police officer located Jackson and the Yukon in a driveway in Alabaster.

On Aug. 11, 2016, charges of manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident with injuries and unlawful distribution of a controlled substance against Jackson were bound over to a grand jury after a preliminary hearing.

Circuit Court Judge Lara Alvis on Jan. 3 denied a bond reduction request from Jackson, after “counsel from both sides presented their respective positions.”

The request to lower Jackson’s bond, which was filed in early December 2016 by Jackson’s attorney, Dan Alexander, claimed Jackson’s $75,000 bond was “inappropriately and unconstitutionally high” for a non-capital offense.

The motion also stated the defendant’s “age, residence, employment, financial condition, background, family ties and relationships, lack of a significant prior criminal record and reliability as vouched by responsible members of the community” as other reasons to lower the bond.

Jackson is now set to appear in Shelby County Circuit Court on June 6 for a status call.