A Shreveport man who pleaded guilty last May to vehicular homicide after he caused a multi-vehicle wreck that killed one man and seriously injured several others, including a child, must serve 15 years in prison and pay a fine, a Caddo District Judge has ruled.
Stephen Scott Stasny Jr., 42, was sentenced Monday, January 6, by District Judge Chris Victory, who also levied a $5,000 fine against him.
On May 27, 2022, Stasny drove west on Highway 80 when his Toyota Tundra crossed the center line. This caused another driver to swerve near the guardrail of a bridge to avoid a head-on collision. That driver looked in his rearview mirror and saw Stasny’s Tundra hit Dowden’s truck behind him head-on. That vehicle caught on fire, killing Mr. Dowden. Stasny’s vehicle hit the truck, flipping on top of a pickup driven by yet another driver. A woman and her minor child in that truck, which also caught on fire, were injured. Several prescriptions were found inside Stasny’s vehicle, as well as multiple Schedule 1 narcotics. Blood toxicology determined that Stasny was under the influence of multiple scheduled narcotics that required caution while driving.
Judge Pitman could have sentenced Stasny to as many as 30 years in prison and pay a fine of up to $15,000. At least five years of the hard-labor prison term must be served without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.
Stasny was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Victoria Washington. He was defended by J. Dhu Thompson.
The case was docket No. 390779.
-30-