FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Slidell Man Pleaded Guilty and Sentenced in 2018 Double Homicide in Slidell
March 28, 2023
District Attorney Warren Montgomery reports that Jason David Landry, age 23, from Slidell, pled guilty on March 22nd, to two counts of manslaughter, two counts of second-degree kidnapping and two counts of conspiracy to commit armed robbery with a firearm. He was sentenced by District Judge Vincent Lobello to 40 years in prison for each manslaughter count; 40 years for each count of kidnapping and 30 years for each count of conspiracy. The court ordered two of the 40-year sentences to run consecutive, meaning the defendant was sentenced to serve a total of 80 years in prison. The plea agreement and sentencing were agreed upon by the families of both victims.
Landry also pled guilty this week to an unrelated second-degree battery he committed against another inmate in the St. Tammany Parish jail.
On February 16, 2018, the mother of the female victim in this case, called the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office to report her daughter missing. The Sheriff’s Office initiated an investigation to locate the daughter, Raegan Day, and her boyfriend, Dustin Hartline. They were last seen when they left Pearl River in a blue Camaro on February 15th to travel to Kenner.
It was later learned that, while en route to Kenner, Day received a call from “co-defendant 1” who convinced Day and Hartline to pick her up and take her to a Slidell residence for a potential drug purchase. She directed them to drive to an abandoned property near the home of “co-defendant 4” where she had been staying with Landry and the other co-defendants in this case.
When they arrived, Landry and “co-defendant 2” exited an abandoned mobile home with their faces covered, armed with handguns. They forced the victims out of the vehicle at gunpoint and directed them to walk down a trail into a wooded area. As they were walking, Landry shot Hartling in the back of the head, killing him. The gunshot startled “co-defendant 2,” causing him to accidently discharge his weapon, striking Landry in the foot. Then, Landry shot Day in the back of the head.
Landry and “co-defendant 1” got into Day’s Camaro and left the scene. “Co-defendant 2” sought out “co-defendant 3,” and they both returned to the scene where they discovered that Day was still alive. According to the police investigation, “co-defendant 3” ignored Day’s pleas for help and shot her in the head, killing her. “Co-defendant 2” and “co-defendant 3” then moved both victims’ bodies off of the trail to the edge of the wood line, covered them with debris and fled.
“Co-defendant 3” discarded the .25 caliber handgun used to kill Day in a nearby water pit. Landry was driven to Slidell Memorial Hospital and had the bullet surgically removed from his foot.
Later that night, “co-defendant 2” returned to the property and put the victims’ bodies in Day’s Camaro. “Co-defendant 2,” followed by “co-defendant 3” in his vehicle, drove the Camaro to the East Pearl River boat launch off of Highway 90 near the Louisiana/Mississippi State Line where they dumped the vehicle, along with the victims’ bodies, into the river.
Eighteen days later, authorities found the vehicle and the bodies in the East Pearl River.
Police learned of another suspect, “co-defendant 4,” who owned the house where all of the other defendants were living. He played a role in this incident as well. Subsequent to the ensuing investigation and witness statements, the St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office arrested all five individuals. The remaining defendants will be tried later.
Family members for both victims were present in Court and gave impact statements. “We are left with questions and memories. We believe it is now our job…to make sure justice is served. It starts today with Jason Landry, spending the rest of his life in jail thinking about what he did and the impact his decisions left on this family.”
DA Montgomery stated, “The heinous nature of these crimes deserves the most serious consequences. Thanks to Assistant District Attorney Jay Adair who prosecuted the case and to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s office who investigated the case, this killer has been held accountable.”