Matthews man sentenced for 3 racing deaths

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A 23-year-old from Matthews has been found guilty of three counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths of three people killed during a car race along N.C. 49.

A jury convicted Tyler Stasko on Tuesday. He was sentenced to about four to five years in jail.

Police said Stasko and 47-year-old Carlene Atkinson of Lake Wylie, S.C., were racing at speeds of up to 100 mph when Stasko’s car hit a car driven by Winthrop University professor Cynthia Furr, who was killed along with her 2-year-old daughter and a teenager in Stasko’s car.

Atkinson was charged even though her car wasn’t involved in the wreck. Prosecutors say she had been convicted 15 times for speeding and left the crash scene without calling for help.