Shreveport, La — Stephen Scott Stasny Jr., 42, of Shreveport, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine for a 2022 crash that claimed one life and injured several others, including a child.
The sentence, handed down by Caddo District Judge Chris Victory on Monday, January 6, follows Stasny’s guilty plea in May 2023 to vehicular homicide.
The fatal crash occurred on May 27, 2022, when Stasny’s Toyota Tundra veered across the center line on Highway 80, triggering a multi-vehicle collision. A driver narrowly avoided a head-on crash but witnessed Stasny’s vehicle slam into a truck driven by Mr. Dowden, causing the truck to catch fire and killing Dowden. Stasny’s vehicle then struck another pickup, which flipped and caught fire, injuring a woman and her minor child.
Investigators found multiple Schedule I narcotics and prescription medications in Stasny’s vehicle. Toxicology reports confirmed he was under the influence of substances that impaired his ability to drive safely.
While Judge Victory imposed a 15-year sentence, state law required that at least five years of it be served without the possibility of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. Stasny faced a potential maximum of 30 years in prison and a $15,000 fine for the charge.
The case, prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Victoria Washington, was docketed as No. 390779. Stasny was represented by defense attorney J. Dhu Thompson.
