Fort Eisenhower murder suspect waives preliminary hearing
FORT EISENHOWER, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A defendant has waived his preliminary hearing in last weekend’s shooting death of a reservist in a family housing area at Fort Eisenhower.
The hearing had been scheduled for Monday after a judge on Wednesday ordered Natravien Landry, 25, to remain in federal custody on the murder charge.
The suspect – a guardsman from Abbeville, La. – is accused of fatally shooting Sgt. Andre S. Stewart Jr. of Clarksville, Tenn., in on-post family housing.
Stewart, an Army reservist out of Fort Meade, Md. – died at a hospital about an hour after being shot in the chest around 7:30 a.m. Saturday.
Landry was arrested south of Atlanta three hours after the shooting, questioned and transferred to Lincoln County jail, one of several facilities in the region that house federal inmates.
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Following a Wednesday afternoon hearing, U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Brian K. Epps ordered Landry to be detained pending further court proceedings.
He was in court Monday for an initial appearance hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian K. Epps.
He’s due back in court for a preliminary hearing at 2 p.m. Monday.
Authorities say Landry fatally shot Stewart after showing up at the home of his child’s mother and finding her in bed with Stewart.
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She told investigators Landry had expressed jealousy of Stewart – with whom she was romantically involved – and a witness said Landry forced his way into the home after seeing an unknown pickup outside.
The shooting has left many residents of Fort Eisenhower in shock after they were awoken Saturday morning by sirens and loudspeakers blaring warnings of a possible active shooter.
READ THE CRIMINAL COMPLAINT:
Crimes like this are rare at Fort Eisenhower, but murders do happen there.
April Evalyn Short, an Army spouse, was charged with premeditated murder and felony murder over the Nov. 15, 2023, death of her baby in family housing at Fort Eisenhower. She’s accused of cutting the child’s neck with a knife. She plans an insanity defense, according to her attorney.
And although the post has been somewhat sheltered, the CSRA has been caught in an outbreak of violent crime that’s claimed more than 180 lives in under three years. Communities large and small have been affected on both sides of the Savannah River.
Pastoral and mental health care are available to anyone affected by the incident, and there’s a list of available resources under “Services” at https://home.army.mil/eisenhower/my-fort/newcomers.
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