Former National Guard soldier Natravien Landry admitted killing Army Sgt. Andre Stewart Jr. during a confrontation in on-post housing.
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Eighteen months after Army Sgt. Andre S. Stewart Jr. was killed inside a residence at Fort Gordon, the federal case against the former National Guard soldier responsible has moved into its final stage.
Natravien R. Landry pleaded guilty June 11 to second-degree murder and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The pleas mean there will be no trial over Stewart’s Dec. 14, 2024, death. Instead, the court will determine whether Landry receives the 10-year minimum sentence identified in his agreement, life imprisonment or a term between those limits.
The plea is the first final adjudication of responsibility in a case that began with a fatal confrontation, a temporary lockdown at a major Army installation and an arrest on a highway nearly 180 miles away. Landry, 27, remains in federal custody. U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall will schedule sentencing after receiving a presentence investigation prepared by U.S. Probation Services.
Stewart was an active-duty Army sergeant. Federal officials initially released few details about him while authorities secured the installation and notified those affected by his death. The Army later publicly identified him, and prosecutors named him in court announcements as the person Landry killed.
The shooting happened in an apartment on the installation, which was known at the time as Fort Eisenhower. Landry was serving in the Army National Guard and assigned to the 1148th Transportation Company. He had been working with his unit early that morning before going to the home of a woman with whom he shares a child.
According to court records and testimony summarized by the Justice Department, Landry saw a vehicle parked outside the apartment and suspected another man was inside. He entered the residence and went to an upstairs bedroom. Stewart was there with the woman and two children.
Prosecutors said Landry knew Stewart was unarmed. During the confrontation, Landry shot him once in the chest. Stewart was later pronounced dead in the apartment. An earlier Army investigator’s affidavit alleged that Landry also struck Stewart with the handgun and that Stewart fell on the stairs after leaving the bedroom while wounded. The facts placed two children near a sudden act of violence inside what was ordinarily a family living space. Authorities did not report that either child was physically injured. Federal officials have not released extensive identifying information about them, and their privacy has remained protected in public accounts of the prosecution.
Landry left the apartment and drove away from the base. Fort commanders ordered a lockdown that remained in effect for about two hours as investigators responded and authorities searched for him. Officials described the shooting as isolated, indicating that it was connected to people inside the residence rather than a broader attack on the installation.
The lockdown ended, but the search continued beyond the Augusta area. About three hours after the shooting, Meriwether County sheriff’s deputies stopped Landry on Interstate 85 south of Atlanta. Authorities said he threw a handgun from the vehicle during the stop. Deputies recovered the 9 mm Glock pistol, and testing later confirmed that it was used to shoot Stewart.
The traffic stop supplied investigators with more than an arrest. Landry’s military uniform was in the vehicle, according to the probable-cause affidavit, supporting the account that he had been on duty before going to the apartment. The recovered gun provided physical evidence tying the weapon in his possession to Stewart’s death.
Landry also admitted the shooting during an interview after investigators advised him of his rights, court records said. The U.S. Marshals Service then took him into federal custody. He made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian K. Epps on Dec. 16, 2024, two days after the killing.
At that first appearance, Landry faced a murder accusation contained in a criminal complaint. He was presumed innocent because a complaint establishes only the basis for a charge. Epps later ordered him detained, and Landry waived a preliminary hearing. His June 2026 guilty pleas changed that legal position by converting the accusations into convictions based on his own admissions.
The distinction matters in reporting a criminal case. Early descriptions of the shooting came from witnesses, investigators and allegations in court filings. After the plea, federal prosecutors could state that Landry had acknowledged responsibility for second-degree murder. The remaining judicial question is not whether he committed the offenses but what sentence the law and the facts require. The federal setting also shaped the case. The killing occurred on a U.S. Army installation, bringing the Army Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia into central roles. Meriwether County deputies and the U.S. Marshals Service handled key parts of the arrest and transfer into federal custody.
The installation has changed names during the case. It was Fort Eisenhower when Stewart was killed in December 2024 and is now called Fort Gordon. The post borders Augusta and is home to the Army Cyber Center of Excellence and other military operations. Its family housing areas place soldiers and children in a community governed by both ordinary residential routines and military security procedures.
Federal prosecutors described the guilty plea as a step toward justice. U.S. Attorney Margaret E. “Meg” Heap credited Army CID agents and the prosecution team for securing a conviction. Ryan O’Connor, special agent in charge of Army CID’s Southeast Field Office, said the outcome reflected the agencies’ commitment to pursuing people who harm members of military communities.
The prosecution was handled by Southern District of Georgia Criminal Division Chief Patricia G. Rhodes and Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry W. Syms Jr. The Justice Department said Army CID investigated the case. The agencies did not announce any additional defendants or unresolved charges connected to the shooting.
Landry’s plea agreement subjects him to possible financial penalties in addition to imprisonment. He may also be placed on supervised release after completing any prison term. Federal supervised release requires a person to follow court-imposed conditions after leaving prison. It is different from parole, which is not available in the federal system. Before sentencing, probation officials will compile information for Judge Hall. The presentence report can address the admitted conduct, Landry’s history and other factors relevant under federal law. Prosecutors and defense attorneys will also be able to present their positions on punishment, and the court may consider statements concerning the effect of Stewart’s death.
The judge is not expected to impose a sentence until that process is complete. The Justice Department has not announced whether prosecutors will seek life imprisonment or another specific term. No public sentencing date had been placed on the schedule as of Monday.
The plea closes the central question that remained after Stewart’s death and the base lockdown: who would be held criminally responsible. Landry has now admitted that responsibility. The next public milestone will come when the federal court schedules his sentencing and decides how long he will remain in prison.
Author note: Last updated July 13, 2026.