Man Who Shot Lady Gaga’s Dogwalker Sentenced To 21 Years In Prison
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UPDATED with latest: A man who shot Lady Gaga’s dog walker during the theft of two of the singer’s French bulldogs pleaded no contest today to an attempted murder charge and was immediately sentenced to 21 years in prison.
James Howard Jackson, 20, pleaded no contest to the single count of attempted murder with great bodily injury, while also admitting a prior strike, in connection with the Feb. 24, 2021 attack on Lady Gaga’s longtime dog walker, Ryan Fischer, who was in court Monday for the hearing and blasted the defendant, saying the shooting changed his life forever.
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In exchange for his plea to the attempted murder count, prosecutors dismissed charges of second-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and being a felon carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle.
“The plea agreement holds Mr. Jackson accountable for perpetrating a cold-hearted violent act and provides justice for our victim,” according to a statement from the District Attorney’s Office. There were five people in all arrested in connection with the incident.
Earlier this year, Lafayette Shon Whaley, 28, pleaded no contest to second-degree robbery for the theft and was sentenced to six years in state prison. He admitted a prior strike for a 2016 criminal threats case. Two other charges against him, including attempted murder, were dismissed as a result of his plea.
Whaley’s plea came eight days after co-defendant Jaylin Keyshawn White, 20, pleaded no contest to second-degree robbery and admitted that another defendant was armed during the attack. White was sentenced Aug. 3 to four years in state prison.
Jennifer McBride — who police said reported that she found the dogs and responded to a reward email to return them — is charged with one count each of being an accessory after the fact and receiving stolen property.
The 52-year-old woman, who brought the dogs to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Olympic Division, allegedly had a relationship with Harold White, the now-42-year-old father of Jaylin White, according to police and prosecutors.
Harold White pleaded no contest Monday to possession of a firearm with a prior conviction. He is set to be sentenced next year, according to prosecutors.
PREVIOUSLY on April 29, 2021: Five people have been arrested in the recent shooting of Lady Gaga’s dogwalker and the theft of the singer’s two French bulldogs, the Los Angeles Police Department said today. Among those arrested was the woman who returned the dogs two nights after the Feb. 24 crime in hope of cashing in on a $500,000 reward.
According to police, the suspects are not believed to have known of Gaga’s connection to the dogs. Three of the suspects — ages 18, 19 and 27 — are gang members who knew of the breed’s value.
Arrested and charged with attempted murder and armed robbery were James Jackson, 18; Jaylin White, 19; and Lafayette Whaley, 27. Harold White, the 40-year-old father of Jaylin White, and Jennifer McBride, 50, were charged with acting as accessories after the fact.
Gaga’s dogwalker and friend, Ryan Fischer, was shot once but survived. A third dog he’d been walking in the area of Sierra Bonita Avenue and Sunset Boulevard was not stolen.
McBride, according to the LAPD, claimed that she found the dogs, named Koji and Gustav, and brought them to the department’s Olympic Station to collect the reward posted on Instagram by the singer-actress, who was in Italy filming House of Gucci.
Police later ascertained that McBride was in a relationship with the elder White.
Jackson, Whaley and both Whites “are all documented gang members from Los Angeles,” the LAPD said in its report.
Last month, Fischer posted an Instagram update on his condition, thanks first responders and telling Gaga, “Your babies are back and the family is whole…”
City News Service contributed to this report.
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