The man who shot Lady Gaga’s dog walker last year was released from jail due to a clerical error.
James Howard Jackson, 18, one of three men charged in the shooting and robbery of dog walker Ryan Fischer, was released from court on Wednesday after records showed the charges against him were dropped.
According to the LA County District Attorney’s Office, the dismissed charges were supposed to have been replaced by a superseding grand jury indictment unsealed during Wednesday’s hearing. However, it seems the superseding case was not entered against Jackson.
Jackson was arrested in April 2021 along with Jaylin White, 19, and Lafayette Whaley, 27. Each was charged with attempted murder and robbery for the dogs-for-cash scheme, according to prosecutors.
Two others, Jennifer McBride, 50, and Harold White, were charged as accessories to the crime, officials said. All of the suspects, except for McBride, reportedly have gang connections.
Police said at the time of their arrest that the suspects were not aware Lady Gaga owned the dogs.
They snagged two of Gaga’s dogs and Fischer was seriously hurt in the violent robbery during which Jackson shot him in the chest.
After Lady Gaga offered a $500,000 reward for the pups “with no questions asked”, the group recruited McBride to act as the “hero” to show up at a LAPD station with the dogs claiming she had found the two pups. She was never given the award after officials became suspicious of her story.
Gaga, meanwhile, was reunited with her dogs as cops pieced the story together, connecting McBride with the others.
Fischer suffered serious injuries including a collapsed lung and was hospitalized for nearly a month. He’s since said he’s traumatized by the experience.
