Tamara Lynn Sytch, 50, better known under her wrestling name “Sunny,” has been sentenced to more than 17 and a half years in prison for killing a 75-year-old man in a drunk driving crash. Judge Karen A. Foxman gave her 566 days credit for time served. Sytch must also serve eight years of probation.
She pleaded no contest on Aug. 16 to charges including DUI resulting in damage to person.
Authorities in Volusia County, Florida, said she had a BAC level of .280 — more than three times the legal limit — when they tested her after she crashed a Mercedes into the rear of Julian Lafrancis Lasseter’s Kia as he was stopped at traffic light on March 25, 2022.
She caused the elderly man to collide with another vehicle in front of him. Two witnesses claimed she was going at a high speed, authorities reportedly said. Four people in that third vehicle were reportedly treated for minor injuries at the scene, but Lasseter died instantly at the scene. Sytch, meanwhile, was hospitalized and released.
She had been arrested for at least six previous DUIs in multiple states, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Sytch on Monday voiced an apology to Lasseter’s family, calling her actions a “stupid decision.” Her defense pushed for a lengthy probation to give her the chance to rehabilitate, but the prosecution highlighted her repetitive criminal history and they maintained that her past showed she would not abide by any conditions set by the state.
Tamara Lynn Sytch, better known under her wrestling name “Sunny,” killed Julian Lafrancis Lasseter in a drunk driving crash, authorities said. At right, she appears in a 1997 WWF segment. (Mugshot: Volusia County Sheriff’s Office; screenshot: WWE by way of YouTube channel Old-School-Wrestling-Clips)
“Known for his generosity and enthusiasm for living life to the fullest, Fran gave many people a ‘leg up,’” Lasseter’s obituary stated. “He viewed helping people as his life’s mission. Fran was a member of Unity of Daytona Beach and a believer in Christ. One of his favorite sayings was ‘I’m on God’s plan.’”
Sytch is best known as a pro-wrestling manager. She was prominent in the mid-1990s to 2000, during what may have been the industry’s most popular period, and worked with WWE (then WWF), rival top dollar company WCW, and the smaller but influential wrestling promotion ECW.
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