Jada Landry is accused of overpowering a deputy after a court hearing Monday and fleeing the Iberia Parish Courthouse.
KATC Investigates took a look at court records to see why she was there, and what kind of history she has in Iberia Parish.
Here's what we found:
On Monday, Landry was in court for a probation revocation hearing. Back in 2018 she was charged with attempted second-degree murder, aggravated battery and aggravated assault. Under a plea deal, she pleaded guilty to aggravated battery in 2023, and she was sentenced to 10 years in prison - the max for that charge under Louisiana law - and the other two charges were dropped.
The court suspended eight years of that sentence, and ordered her to serve three years of probation when she completed her prison time. The conditions of that probation included anger management classes, community service until she got a job, and drug testing.
This week, she was in court because prosecutors alleged she violated conditions of that probation and asked the court to revoke it. Court records indicate that the judge agreed after listening to testimony from Landry and her probation officer, and ordered her to serve the previously suspended eight years on the original charge. She was taken into custody, those records indicate, and it was some time afterward that she allegedly overpowered deputies and fled.
Court records show Landry has been accused of violence five times, and each time has taken a plea deal.
In 2017, when she was 19 years old, she was arrested in April and charged with aggravated assault and simple criminal damage to property, then again that same month for aggravated assault. In those cases, she took plea deals. In the first case she pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in November 2018, and was sentenced to 10 days in jail. That same month, she pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in the second case, and was sentenced to 15 days in jail. Those sentences were to be served at the same time, and she got credit for time served.
In February 2018, she was charged with disturbing the peace by fighting and resisting an officer. In that case, she pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace by fighting and was sentenced to eight days in jail.
That fall, in August 2018, she was charged with attempted second-degree murder, aggravated battery and aggravated assault - the same case being heard before her alleged escape. Shortly after her arrest in that case, the judge signed an Order of Protection involving the alleged victims in the case - an adult and three children. The 12-month order did allow for Landry to communicate with a custodian for visitation with one of those children, records show. At the time of her arrest, court records indicate, she was pregnant.
About a year later, in October 2019, she was charged with aggravated battery and domestic abuse battery first offense. She failed to appear for court three times in that case; it appears from court records that she was in jail for more than six months after being arrested on the last FTA warrant. It was during that period that she took another deal, and pleaded guilty to the domestic abuse battery charge in March 2023 - on the same day she pleaded guilty in the attempted murder case. She was sentenced to six months in jail, with that sentence to be served at the same time as the two-year sentence.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Landry still isn't listed as an inmate in the Iberia Parish jail.
Monday night, within hours of her escape, Landry apparently commented on the sheriff's post about her escape:
We've reached out to the sheriff's office to see if she has been apprehended in another jurisdiction; we'll update the story after we hear back.
Here's the original story:
Police are searching for a woman who they say escaped while being sentenced in court.
Jada Landry fled custody while in court being sentenced for aggravated battery. She exited the courthouse and fled the area in a vehicle, according to the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office (IPSO). The vehicle has since been located.
IPSO deputies and officers with the New Iberia Police Department are actively searching the surrounding area for Landry.
If you have any information on her whereabouts, do not approach. Please submit an anonymous tip through our app or contact our dispatch office immediately at (337) 369-3711.
