James Howard Jackson, the gunman who shot and wounded Lady Gaga’s dog walker, Ryan Fischer, while stealing her French bulldogs last year, took a plea deal and has been sentenced to 21 years in prison.
Almost two years after Fischer was shot in the chest and left bleeding on a sidewalk because he refused to hand over Lady Gaga’s beloved French bulldogs, he was in a Los Angeles courtroom on Monday as Jackson was sentenced.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the pop star (Lady Gaga) had offered a $500,000 reward for the return of her pets. The dogs were returned several days later by a woman who was also charged with the crime.
Fischer, 41, flew to California for the occasion and gave an emotional victims impact statement shortly after gunman James Howard Jackson, 20, pleaded no contest to attempted murder with great bodily injury and admitted to a prior strike. The last-minute plea deal led prosecutors to drop related robbery and weapons charges.
“You shot me and left me to die, and both of our lives have changed forever,” Fischer told Jackson, describing the “earth-shattering event” that nearly killed him.
Fischer described his difficult days and nights since the attack, filled with “lung collapse after lung collapse,” physical therapy and “loss of career, friendships, aimlessly traveling the country,” and rising debt. Still, he showed grace toward his assailant.
“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,” Fischer told Jackson before thanking him for not harming the dogs. “They were returned and returned to their mom. I don’t think I could have lived with myself if they died.”
Jackson, who was mistakenly freed from custody in April and finally recaptured in August, shot Fischer with a .40-caliber handgun at close range during a violent ambush on a sidewalk in Hollywood on the evening of February 24, 2021, prosecutors said. Jackson and his cohorts stalked and targeted Fischer after noticing he was walking three highly valuable French bulldogs.
The men had no idea the precious pets (Asia, Gustav, and Koji) belonged to Gaga, only that the dogs were a rare and coveted breed, prosecutors said.
Fischer fought back valiantly and took a bullet trying to save all three dogs. The dognappers managed to grab Gustav and Koji before fleeing the scene in a white Nissan Sentra.
Jackson, one of three men who participated in the violent robbery of Lady Gaga’s dog pleaded no contest to one count of attempted murder, the Los Angeles county district attorney’s office said on Monday.
“The plea agreement holds Mr Jackson accountable for perpetrating a coldhearted violent act and provides justice for our victim,” the DA’s office said in a statement.
How dog walker Fischer was almost killed over Lady Gaga’s dog
Authorities have said that on 24 February 2021, Jackson, Jaylin White, 19, and Lafayette Whaley, 27, drove around Los Angeles “looking for French bulldogs”, an expensive breed that can sell for thousands of dollars.
They came across Fischer with the pop star’s three dogs near Sunset Boulevard.
The men rushed Fischer, yelling for him to “Give it up” as they grabbed at the animals’ leashes, he told Rolling Stone. The dog walker was swinging at them with a champagne bottle he was holding and still gripping two of the leashes when one of the men began choking him.
It was during the struggle that officials say Jackson shot him with a semiautomatic handgun, allowing the trio to take off with two of the dogs, Koji and Gustav, while a third, Miss Asia, stayed hidden under nearby bushes as Fischer had told her to. Fischer was left bleeding on the pavement weighing the best way to get the dogs back.
Fischer has called the attack a “very close call with death”. The bullet pierced his lung, which later collapsed several times and required doctors to remove more than a third of the organ, Rolling Stone reported. He was also left with several broken ribs and cuts on his arms and legs.
After the robbery, Lady Gaga offered a “$500,000 [£353,000] to anyone who has her two dogs, no questions asked”. The dogs were returned several days later by a woman who was also charged in the crime.
Two months after the attack, five people were arrested in connection with the incident, including Jackson.
Jackson also admitted to inflicting great bodily injury and to a prior strike, the DA’s office said.