Man Gets 25 Years For Stabbing At Corrosion of Conformity Show

Colleen Jenkins of the St. Petersburg Times has issued the following report:

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 (July 24). 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.