Tammy Lynn Sytch Now: Prison Sentence, Appeal, and Lawsuit

Tammy Lynn Sytch, the former WWE wrestler known as “Sunny,” is now inmate at the Lowell Correctional Institution, a women’s state prison in Florida, serving a 17-year sentence for a drunk driving crash that killed 75-year-old Julian LaFrancis Lasseter in March 2022.¹²

The Crash That Put Her in Prison

On the evening of March 25, 2022, Sytch was driving southbound on U.S. 1 near Granada Boulevard in Ormond Beach, Florida. At about 8:28 p.m., she failed to stop and rear-ended a vehicle, setting off a chain-reaction collision involving three cars.³ Julian Lasseter, a 75-year-old resident of Daytona Beach Shores, was pronounced dead at Halifax Health Medical Center. Four other people were injured.

Her blood alcohol content was 0.280, three and a half times Florida’s legal limit of 0.08.⁴ A Florida Department of Law Enforcement analysis also detected THC in her blood, and officers found an unsealed bottle of Grey Goose vodka on the front passenger floorboard. Sytch admitted to drinking vodka earlier that evening. She did not hold a valid driver’s license in any state at the time: her Pennsylvania license had been suspended, and she had never obtained a Florida one.⁵

In August 2023 she entered a plea of no contest to all eight charges against her, including DUI manslaughter and driving while license suspended causing death.⁶ On November 27, 2023, a Volusia County judge imposed 10 years for driving with a suspended license causing death or injury and 7 years for DUI manslaughter, to run consecutively, for a total of 17 years in state prison.⁷ She received credit for 566 days already served. The court also ordered eight years of probation after release, 50 hours of community service, a $10,000 fine, and permanent revocation of her driver’s license.⁸

At the sentencing, Sytch told the Lasseter family: “I know my words are not enough. But please know I think about you every day. Every second of every day, and I will do whatever I can to make the changes I need to make sure this never happens again.” Whitney Lasseter Hill, the victim’s daughter, described her father as the anchor of their family and told reporters afterward that she believed the sentence “should’ve been longer than what she agreed to.”⁷

The Prior Record That Shaped the Sentence

The fatal crash followed a long pattern of impaired driving. In Carbon County, Pennsylvania, Sytch was arrested three times for DUI within three weeks in the summer of 2015, with blood alcohol readings of 0.253, 0.300, and 0.078.⁵ She pleaded guilty to three DUI counts in December 2015, received probation, violated it in October 2016, and was sentenced to Carbon County Prison in February 2017.⁴

Her record also included a 2005 conviction in New Jersey for prescription drug possession, a 2012 felony conviction in Connecticut for violating a protective order, and a 2021 felony conviction in New Jersey for resisting arrest. One month before the Ormond Beach crash, she was arrested in New Jersey in February 2022 for DUI after striking a pole and leaving the scene, with a blood alcohol content of 0.308.⁵ That case remained pending in Monmouth County Superior Court as of the most recent reporting.

State Attorney R.J. Larizza described the pattern at sentencing: “The defendant’s history of drinking and driving is horrendous. It was only a matter of time before her drunk driving killed an innocent and unsuspecting individual.”⁹

Appeal Denied

Sytch’s appeal did not succeed. The Fifth District Court of Appeal of Florida issued a per curiam affirmed ruling, upholding the conviction without a written opinion. Her court-appointed appellate lawyer had already withdrawn after concluding the appeal was “without any arguable merit.”² A December 2024 court order gave Sytch the opportunity to file her own brief raising any remaining issues; no such filing was made.

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settled

Separate from the criminal case, Julian Lasseter’s estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Volusia County Circuit Court. Represented by Whitney Hill, the estate named Sytch, her former fiancé James Pente (who allegedly owned the vehicle), and Ultimate Motor Cars LLC. The suit sought damages in excess of $30,000, citing medical and funeral expenses and the loss of Lasseter’s companionship and guidance.¹⁰

The parties reached a settlement before trial. Judge Mary G. Jolley canceled the trial that had been scheduled for March 25, 2026, and ordered the case closed within 30 days of the settlement documentation being filed. The financial terms were not publicly disclosed.¹⁰

What She Has Said From Prison

Sytch gave a lengthy interview from prison on the BirdCallsLive podcast, describing the fatal collision as an “accident” that was neither “premeditated” nor “intentional.” Of Lasseter’s death, she said: “The day that car accident happened my soul died inside of me.”¹¹ She recounted that a childhood friend had called her a “murderer” and told her to “rot in hell.” In a separate interview with TMZ, according to PWInsider, she referred to the fatal incident as a “terrible accident.”¹⁰

In early 2026, Sytch’s WWE Hall of Fame ring surfaced for sale on a Facebook yard sale group in Port Orange, Florida, listed at $7,000. The listing was later marked as sold. It was not the ring’s first resale: she had previously sold it in 2016, saying at the time it was the “right way to get back on track.”¹

Her WWE Hall of Fame Status

WWE has not publicly removed Sytch from its Hall of Fame. As of 2026, her profile remains active on the official WWE website, listing her as a “2011 WWE Hall of Fame Inductee” alongside a biography that makes no mention of her legal history.¹² The company has made no public statement distancing itself from her.

1
Yahoo Sports. Sunny WWE Hall of Fame Ring
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WrestleView. Appeals Court in Florida Upholds Conviction of WWE Hall of Famer
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Observer Local News. Pro Wrestler Involved in March 25 Fatal Three-Car Crash on U.S. 1
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Daytona Beach News-Journal. WWE Hall of Famer Tammy Sunny Sytch Has Bond Revoked in DUI Case
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Daytona Beach News-Journal. WWE Hall of Famer Tammy Lynn Sytch Will Seek Lower Sentence
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Click Orlando. Former WWE Star Tammy Sunny Sytch Sentenced in Fatal DUI Crash
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Fox 35 Orlando. WWE Legend Tammy Sytch Addresses Judge at Sentencing in Deadly Florida DUI Case
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Fox 35 Orlando. Tammy Sytch WWE Star to Be Sentenced for Deadly Florida DUI Crash
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ESPN. Former Wrestler Tammy Sytch Sentenced to 17 Years for DUI Crash
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PWInsider. Settlement Reached in Tammy Sytch Civil Case
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Slam Wrestling. Sunny’s Shoot Interview From Prison
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WWE. Sunny Superstar Profile