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Spring Hill man sought on charge of DUI manslaughter

Almost six months after the April 18 accident, authorities can't find the driver. He and the victim were close friends.

By JAMAL THALJI
Published October 11, 2005

They were the best of friends. Both loved basketball, music, Weeki Wachee Springs. The Spring Hill men even had the same jobs, as concrete finishers.

They were together, right up until the end.

Then in April, after drinking several malt liquor "forties," authorities say Richard Cameron lost control of his speeding pickup, ejecting passenger Scott Roysdon as the vehicle tumbled over and over down a Land O'Lakes stretch of U.S. 41.

When it stopped, Roysdon was underneath. A day later, April 19, he was pronounced dead at a Tampa hospital.

Six months later, authorities want to arrest Cameron in his friend's death.

"This is just such a waste," said Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Larry Coggins Jr. "Two families are going to suffer a loss now: one burying their child, and the other is going to lose their child (to the courts.)"

Cameron, 20, is being sought on charges of DUI manslaughter and driving without a valid driver's license.

According to an affidavit by patrol Cpl. Kenneth Ratcliff, Cameron's blood-alcohol level tested at 0.107 and 0.108. In Florida a driver is presumed impaired at 0.08.

Several witnesses saw Cameron clamber out of the driver's side, the affidavit said, and that he admitted to drinking several "forties," or 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor.

About 15 minutes before the accident, the affidavit said, the two men had fled a Land O'Lakes Circle K convenience store on U.S. 41.

Roysdon, 18, is accused of stealing baseball cards, running outside and jumping into a red pickup, which sped out of the parking lot.

The accident occurred at 11:35 a.m., according to a patrol report. Witnesses told authorities that Cameron's red 1997 Ford Ranger was driving at speeds between 60 and 100 mph on northbound U.S. 41, swerving in and out of traffic.

The pickup was trying to pass a vehicle by driving onto the grassy median, the affidavit said, but when it pulled back onto the pavement it lost control and overturned several times.

A young man was thrown from the passenger side, witnesses said.

Neither was wearing a seat belt, the Highway Patrol said.

"Cameron is up and walking and fine, and my son is dead," the victim's mother, Margaret Williams, told the St. Petersburg Times after the April accident. "How can one die and one can just get up?"

His eyes bloodshot and watery, Cameron told paramedics he did not want to drive, according to the affidavit, but that Roysdon made him.

After his death, Roysdon's mother told the Times her son is survived by two brothers younger than 10: Kevin and Damon Lopez. According to the affidavit, Roysdon died because of a traumatic spinal injury and skull fractures. The mother said her son's spine was broken in several places, but his heart and lungs were donated.

Cameron was arrested several times in 2001 as a juvenile by the Pasco and Hernando sheriff's offices on charges of larceny and burglary and was once adjudicated a delinquent.

Anyone with information about Cameron's whereabouts is asked to contact the patrol at toll free 1-800-235-6019.

[Last modified October 11, 2005, 01:57:17]