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Man gets 25 years for Ybor City death brawl

Michael Pyne was sentenced 25 years Monday for stabbing a man to death in Ybor City last June.

By COLLEEN JENKINS
Published July 24, 2006

TAMPA — If Michael Pyne had fought with his fists instead of a knife the night of June 23, 2005, he likely would have made a friend once the chaotic brawl at Ybor City’s Masquerade nightclub ended.

Tommy Laskas had a way of winning people over, said his sister, Jaimie Mourer.“'Hey guy, no hard feelings,’” Mourer imagined Laskas would have said. He “probably would have handed you a beer.”

Instead, Mourer spoke in place of her younger brother Monday. Then she and her family and his friends watched as the man who used a knife was sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing Laskas.

It was not the ending anyone had imagined for 29-year-old Laskas, a Gaither High School graduate who lived in Seminole Heights but knew Ybor City as the place where he spread his artistic wings, met and married his muse.

A familiar face to even the homeless people who roamed the area’s streets, Laskas went to Masquerade to hear the band Corrosion of Conformity.

His wife, Wendy Laskas, and a friend accidentally knocked Pyne, a stranger, into a mosh pit during the concert.

They seem to part cordially — Pyne even handed them a business card — but ended up in a brawl about 20 minutes later.

Wendy Laskas and two others were hurt. Tommy Laskas died. The business card helped police nab Pyne.

To avoid a life sentence, the Pinellas Park man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and several counts of aggravated battery and assault.

He will serve 10 years of probation once his prison term ends.

Pyne, 40, stood handcuffed in court Monday to hear his punishment. Behind him were two grieving families, Laskas’ and his own.

Laskas’ family recalled the sweet, bright spirit who never picked a fight or got a speeding ticket. Like Pyne, Laskas was a tattoo artist. But there they parted ways. Pyne had a documented history of violence.

“You are the worst example of humanity, and you took from the world its very best example,” said Steve Miller, Tommy Laskas’ best friend since age 15.

Laskas’ death could have been prevented if the nightclub had patted down patrons before admitting them, said Wendy Laskas, who has recovered from her injuries.

She has sued the club for negligence.

“Weapons and alcohol do not mix,” she said. “We as a community need to make sure that something like this can never happen again.”

Laskas’ supporters watched expressionless as Pyne unfolded a yellow sheet of paper and began his unemotional apology. His sister cried as he spoke of both families’ suffering.

“In a split second, a life was lost and other were ruined,” he said. “If I could trade places with Tommy, I would.”
Outside the courtroom, Miller said many of Laskas’ friends had gotten a tattoo to honor their fallen friend. Miller has not.

Doing that, he said, would make his best friend’s death too real.

Colleen Jenkins can be reached at (813) 226-3337 or cjenkins@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 24, 2006, 19:13:24]