Sanity commission approved for man shot during struggle with Alexandria officer

Melissa Gregory, Alexandria Town Talk
·2 min read
A man shot while struggling with a police officer will undergo a sanity evaluation, a Rapides Parish judge ruled Monday.
A man shot while struggling with a police officer will undergo a sanity evaluation, a Rapides Parish judge ruled Monday.

A man shot while struggling with a police officer will undergo a sanity evaluation, a Rapides Parish judge ruled Monday.

Jason Jamar Shackleford, 35, has pleaded insanity to a charge of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer.

Last year, on Thanksgiving Day, Shackleford began struggling with an Alexandria Police Department officer, Christopher Hayward, after a call about a man either running into traffic or lying on Rapides Avenue.

Shackleford became agitated as he and Hayward spoke, and the two began struggling. In videos captured from Hayward's body camera and dash camera, the two struggle for about four minutes.

Shackleford used Hayward's baton to choke the officer. Hayward was able to keep Shackleford from getting his gun, eventually firing five shots.

One hit Shackleford in his left arm. He was hospitalized, but was arrested after he was released in early December. He remains in jail, serving time on an unrelated probation violation.

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His attorney, Christopher LaCour, made a motion for a sanity commission to evaluate Shackleford. Ninth Judicial District Court Judge Mary Lauve Doggett granted the motion.

All action in his case will be paused until doctors can evaluate him and return their findings to Doggett.

In other Monday court developments:

  • Jury selection should begin Tuesday in the manslaughter trial of Jmarkus Trevon Green, 20. Green is accused of killing 18-year-old Dexter Hymes in January 2022 in the 2200 block of West Sycamore Street in Alexandria.

  • A hearing has been set for Oct. 9 on two motions filed Monday by Kyle Lucien Ryland's attorney, George Higgins III. Ryland faces a manslaughter charge for the December 2019 shooting of Steven Wayne Saucier, 56, in the Kolin area. Ryland's trial also is set to begin on that date.

  • Dayshawn Trevon Reed, who faces a late November trial on a second-degree murder charge, had a Sept. 18 hearing date set for a motion he filed that his attorney, Eric J. Talley, adopted. He's accused in the July 2021 shooting death in the 2900 block of Broadway Avenue of Ka’Ron Ya’Lik Bennett, 23.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Man who struggled with Alexandria officer to undergo sanity evaluation