Saturday, February 20, 2010

The Story Until Now

It appears that 44 yr old Carlene Atkinson and 20 yr old Tyler Stasko did not know each other as they departed Carowinds Theme Park the first Saturday eve of April '09. Why would they? They lived on opposite ends of the "metro Charlotte area" and both were escorting two youngsters out of the park and home: Atkinson's 13-yr-old daughter and a 14 yr old friend of same, and Stasko had two young males in tow (relationship unclear, perhaps from a church group). Now their names are intertwined in a despicable, disgusting infamy: both are charged with 3 counts of second-degree murder in the street drag-racing deaths of a Winthrop U professor, her small daughter, and a middle-school student in the Stasko car by the name of Hunter Holt.

Witnesses said that speeds up to 100 mph were achieved along NC 49 very near Lake Wylie, NC in this reckless trek that left Cynthia Furr, her 2 1/2 year old daughter McAllister, and Holt dead. The Eclipse driven by Stasko broad-sided the Furr car, turning her Mercedes on its roof. Ms Furr was on her way to a church event at 6:44PM when this happened. The primer-painted decade-old Camero driven by Atkinson was not directly involved in the crash, but according to witnesses she pulled over, looked over this scene of carnage, and declared "Lets go", taking off with her two young charges still on board. Police caught up with her later at home and impounded the car and carted her off to jail. (one article stated that one of the passengers--perhaps the friend of the Atkinson daughter--returned to the scene later in that same evening, perhaps with parents in tow, and presumably spilled some beans. Stasko was arrested once he was discharged from the hospital.

It came out in the press that Atkinson had been cited 19 times in the MOST RECENT 10 years for speeding violations, including one charge still pending at the time of this incident. Her speeding history did not meet the threshold for license suspension, but one wonders how she could afford auto insurance, or who would underwrite it. She has no license now. Once this "lady"---who is a grandmother according to a birth-listing in the local paper, a listing now removed from the web--- managed to make bail, the paper said "Woman in drag-racing death-case can attend church, Judge rules" or something to that effect.
Young Stasko is also going the "good Christian boy" route, according to an interview his father John gave a reporter who showed up uninvited at his door. In this delightfully superficial and self-serving interview, Papa John said that Tyler's future plans included a stint in the Air Force and a career in Law Enforcement. It was unclear if anyone in the Stasko household is still holding to these unrealistic aims.

According to an email from a Charlotte Observer reporter responding to my query, this case will not go to trial til 2011 due to backlog. He believes that they will be tried together---saves the state time and money this way-- something that cannot be comforting to the Stasko's. It is also noteworthy that neither party was offered a plea deal----the DA is going for the max. It will be interesting to see if any of the surviving young passengers will testify.... presumably for the prosecution.

I decided to check out the Aktinson residence and found that it was not at all the tony "Lake Wylie" domicile that the press gives for Mark and Carlene Atkinson: instead, it is located on a semi-rural dead-end outside of York, SC. A house or trailer--I couldn't tell which---hidden behind a thicket of woods and small pasture with 2 or 3 horses on it. A stockyard-style iron fence over a gravel drive had a rusted sign posted above it, "POSTED:Keep Out". I don't know how Atkinson---a former counter clerk at the coffee shop on the campus of Belmont Abbey College---managed to make bail, but believe me, it was NOT accomplished by signing over this or any other property on the pretentiously-named street Chalet Court.

Now that the defendants have entered their respective Not Guilty pleas, no further hard news on this case is expected til trial, sometime next year. Maybe TruTV would be interested in covering it? The trial should be as riveting as the crime is unfathomable.

2 comments:

  1. Normally, a murder case in Mecklenburg County takes about 2 years to get to trial. Look for this sometime in 2011.

    ReplyDelete