Last month, Tammy Lynn Sytch received a 17-year prison sentence for her involvement in a fatal car crash. In March 2023, she was found to be four times over the legal alcohol limit when she crashed into a car at a red light in Florida, resulting in injuries to several people and the death of a 75-year-old driver, Julian Lasseter. This incident happened just four months after her release from prison for a previous DUI offense.
Sytch pleaded no contest to DUI manslaughter, four counts of DUI with damage to a person, and two counts of DUI with damage to property during her trial. She has faced DUI charges six times.
Speaking from the Lowell Correctional Institution on the BirdCallsLive podcast, which features conversations with female prison inmates, Sytch expressed remorse for the tragic accident and the loss of life. She revealed the emotional toll it has taken on her, stating that her soul died that day, and she doubts she will ever be the same. Despite the gravity of the situation, she added that it was an accident and not intentional.
“As far as this situation goes I haven’t been able to publicly speak about the car accident I was involved in. The tragedy that occurred that day. The loss of a life that occurred which is the whole reason I am here but most people don’t realize how much remorse I do have and how it ripped my heart out. The day that car accident happened my soul died inside of me. I don’t think I will ever be the same…I never thought in my life I had to go through something like this. I will survive,” she said.
“Believe it or not but some of my closest friends have turned their backs on me. There is this one girl I have known since seventh grade when the accident happened she sent me a really nasty message calling me a murderer and she hoped that I rot in hell…I was blown away by that…I couldn’t believe this person was acting like that towards me. It was a car accident. It had gone very wrong but the optimal word is ‘accident’. It is not like I meant to do anything. Nothing was premeditated. Nothing was intentional. It was a car accident. The way she treated me afterwards tore my heart out,” she said.
Sytch also disclosed the heartbreaking experience of close friends turning their backs on her, citing an instance where a longtime friend sent a hurtful message, labeling her as a murderer and expressing a desire for her to rot in hell. Sytch expressed disbelief at the harsh treatment, just saying that it was an accident gone wrong, not a premeditated act.
