According to NBC Los Angeles, the man who shot Lady Gaga’s dog walker last year was released from jail due to a clerical error.
Court documents show that Wednesday, the charges against James Howard Jackson, 18, one of three males charged in the shooting and robbery of dog walker Ryan Fischer, were dismissed.
Sources tell NBCLA that the superseding grand jury indictment was unsealed during Wednesday’s hearing regarding the dismissed charges; however, it seems the superseding case was not entered against Jackson.
According to prosecutors, Jackson, and the other two defendants, Jaylin White, 19, and Lafayette Whaley, 27, were all arrested in April 2021 for attempted murder and robbery for the dogs-for-cash scheme.
Officials stated that Jennifer McBride, 50, and Harold White, 50, were accused as accomplices to the crime. Except for McBride, all of the suspects have gang ties.
Police say that the accused were unaware that Lady Gaga owned the dogs at the time of the arrest.
Two of Gaga’s dogs were taken during the robbery, and Fischer was seriously injured when Jackson shot him in the chest.
Afterward, the group convinced McBride to present herself at an LAPD station with the dogs, claiming she had found the pups after Lady Gaga offered a $500,000 reward “no questions asked.” She was not given the award after the LAPD became suspicious of her.
Meanwhile, Gaga was reunited with her dogs while investigators pieced together the story and linked McBride to the others.
After suffering significant injuries, Fischer was hospitalized for about a month, including a collapsed lung. He’s since stated that the encounter has left him traumatized.
