Former WWE star sentenced to more than 17 years in prison after causing deadly crash while under the influence
By Dave McDaniel
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ORMOND BEACH, Florida (WESH) — Tamara Sytch, a former WWE star, was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison after causing a chain-reaction crash in 2022 that killed one person. Sytch was under the influence at the time of the accident, officials say.
“My dad loved us with everything he had and we miss him every day,” said Whitney Lasseter Hill, whose father, Julian LaFrancis Lasseter, was killed in that accident.
“I’m going to adjudicate the defendant guilty,” said Judge Karen Foxman, talking about Sytch.
“Every day since my dad was taken from us, it’s been incredibly difficult. I wish we had a different outcome today,” Hill said.
The state and the family wanted just over a 25-year sentence for 50-year-old Tamara “Sunny” Sytch. She pleaded no contest to driving into Fran Lasseter’s car, more than three times the legal limit for drunk driving back in March 2022.
“When I sit alone and think of what I did to the Lasseter family, that tragic day, from a stupid decision, I feel regret and remorse deep in my soul,” Sytch said.
Sytch spoke of regret, but also of her charitable work in her days in the wrestling spotlight, hoping to convince the judge she still had value to the community.
“Moral equivalency, your poor brother, but poor me, and that’s the way I looked at it. I thought it was moral equivalency on her part,” said Kenny Lasseter, the victim’s brother.
The Lasseter family pointed out Sytch’s history of drunk driving out of state. She did not even have a Florida license the night of the crash.
“She does have a significant sentence, and she really needs to do a lot of soul searching, and she hasn’t done it for all these years, and I’m hoping she can find some way to find herself again,” Lasseter said.
In addition to more than 17 years in prison, Sytch will serve eight years of probation after her release.
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