Marshall Man Pleads Guilty to Vehicular Homicide

A Shreveport man charged with vehicular homicide after he caused a multi-vehicle wreck that killed one man and seriously injured several others, including a child, pleaded guilty in Caddo District Court earlier this month.

Stephen Scott Stasny, 42, pleaded guilty Monday, May 6, 2024 to causing the May 27, 2022 fiery wreck on U.S. Highway 80 that killed James Dowden.

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.

When Stasny returns to Judge Michael Pitman's court July 1, 2024, he faces a fine of at least $2,000 and up to $15,000, and also must serve a hard-labor prison term of at least five and up to 30 years, with a least three years to be imposed without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.