National Guard soldier appears in court on murder charge

An Army National Guard soldier has been charged with murder after a weekend shooting in a Fort Eisenhower residence.

Natravien Landry, 25, of Abbeville, Louisiana, is charged via complaint with one count of murder, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Landry was in court Monday for an initial appearance hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian K. Epps. A detention hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

As described in court documents and testimony, Landry is an Army National Guard soldier assigned to the 1148^th Transportation Company at Fort Eisenhower. He is alleged to have visited the residence in post housing at Fort Eisenhower early Saturday morning, Dec. 14, of a woman with whom Landry shares a child. Landry is accused of assaulting and shooting a man who was with the woman in her residence, and then leaving Fort Eisenhower. Landry was arrested about three hours later south of Atlanta on Interstate 85 during a traffic stop by the Meriwether County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office, and deputies recovered a 9 mm pistol during the stop.

The U.S. Marshals Service took Landry into custody and transported him to the Lincoln County Jail, where he awaits further court proceedings.

Criminal complaints contain only charges; defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case is being investigated by the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, and prosecuted for the United States by Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorneys Henry W. Syms Jr., Patricia G. Rhodes and Kelsey L. Scanlon, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Capt. Jacqueline M. Stryker.