Ryan Fischer, James Howard Jackson.Photo: Ryan Fischer/Instagram; Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
The man who shotLady Gaga’s dog walker while stealing the Grammy-winning singer’s pups has been sentenced to more than two decades in prison.
On Monday, James Howard Jackson, 20, was given 21 years in jail forshooting Ryan Fischeron Feb. 24, 2021, while Fischer was walking the musician’sthree French bulldogs, perRolling Stone.Jackson, along with two other suspects, allegedly fled in a car with two of the dogs, named Koji and Gustav, though the dogswere returned safely to police two days later.
“You shot me and left me to die, and both of our lives have changed forever,” Fischer said to Jackson during the sentencing hearing on Monday, describing the “earth-shattering event” in a victim impact statement. He latershared the statementon Instagram.
He added that after being shot, he suffered “lung collapse after lung collapse,” as well as “loss of career, friendships, aimlessly traveling the country.” Fischer said he endured physical therapy and became deep into debt.
VINCENZO PINTO/AFP
He then told Jackson, “I do forgive you. With the attack, you completely altered my life. I know I can’t completely move on from the night you shot me until I said those words to you.”
He acknowledged Jackson’s decision to not hurt the pups, noting, “They were returned and returned to their mom. I don’t think I could have lived with myself if they died.”
During the hearing, Jackson pled no contest to attempted murder with great bodily injury, causing prosecutors to drop the other charges against him: conspiracy to commit robbery, second-degree robbery, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and a felon carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle, according toRolling Stone.
Attorney information for Jackson was not immediately available.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said that under the plea deal, Jackson confessed toinflicting great bodily injuryand to a prior strike, The Associated Press reported.
“The plea agreement holds Mr. Jackson accountable for perpetrating a coldhearted violent act and provides justice for our victim,” the District Attorney’s office said, according to AP.
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Inan interview last SeptemberwithGayle KingonCBS Mornings, Fischer said of his attackers, “I think they justsaw a guy with three French bulldogs.”
He added, “The one thing I’ve noticed in L.A. while walking the dogs is people would say out of the cars, ‘How much are those dogs worth?’ Like, ‘How much are they? Can I buy them?’ And that part was always surprising — the viewing of the dog as a commodity.”
In April, Jackson was mistakenly released from jail in what the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said was “due to a clerical error.”
He was returned to custody in August.
source: people.com
