Natchitoches Parish District Attorney Billy Joe Harrington announced that the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal in Lake Charles has affirmed the denial of parole eligibility for convicted murderer Jason Pilcher, preserving his life-without-parole sentences for the 1993 murders of Phyllis Albritton and her 11-year-old son, Justin Albritton.
The Third Circuit rejected Pilcher’s challenge and affirmed the judgment of the 10th Judicial District Court in its entirety. The appellate court found that the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding Pilcher permanently incorrigible and “irreparably corrupt,” and therefore ineligible for parole.
The ruling effectively brings to a close a case that began more than three decades ago and has required the surviving members of the Albritton family to return repeatedly to courtrooms and legislative hearings to defend the sentence imposed after Pilcher’s 1994 murder convictions.
Although Pilcher may ask the Louisiana Supreme Court to review the decision, the court is not required to hear his case.
“The Court of Appeal correctly affirmed the district court’s ruling, and I commend the court for its careful review and its commitment to protecting the public from a defendant found to be permanently incorrigible and unworthy of parole eligibility,” Harrington said. “This case began with an unspeakable act of violence against a family that offered kindness to strangers. But the suffering of the Albritton family did not end that day. Nathan Albritton lost his wife and son, and he and his family have had to relive that day in courtroom after courtroom just to keep the justice they were given.”
Pilcher was 15 years old in August 1993, when he and another teenager stole a vehicle and firearms in Shreveport and crashed in Natchitoches Parish. They approached the Albritton home near Robeline seeking help, and the family gave them a telephone and ice water. Without warning or provocation, Pilcher shot and killed Phyllis Albritton and her 11-year-old son, Justin, and fired at 13-year-old Amanda Albritton as she fled across a pasture and escaped to her grandmother’s house. Pilcher was captured in Rapides Parish after an overnight manhunt.
Pilcher was tried as an adult and convicted in 1994 of two counts of second-degree murder. He received two consecutive life sentences without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. The convictions and sentences were affirmed on appeal.
Decades later, two U.S. Supreme Court rulings, Miller v. Alabama and Montgomery v. Louisiana, allowed juvenile offenders sentenced to mandatory life without parole to be eligible for a new court hearing on whether parole should be allowed. Louisiana courts have held that denying parole eligibility is normally reserved for “the worst offenders and the worst cases.”
In January 2025, the 10th Judicial District Court held a six-day resentencing hearing. Special Prosecutor Clifford R. Strider III presented extensive evidence for the State, including expert testimony, testimony from surviving members of the Albritton family, and Pilcher’s prison disciplinary records showing a continuing pattern of misconduct and drug use during his incarceration.
In March 2025, Judge Desiree Dyess re-sentenced Pilcher to life imprisonment without the benefit of parole. Judge Dyess found him “totally without remorse and a danger to organized society” and “irreparably corrupt,” and described him as a “lifelong persistent offender” based on his conduct in prison.
Pilcher appealed to the Third Circuit. In its newly issued opinion, the appellate court reviewed the resentencing record and noted Pilcher’s continued drug abuse, numerous prison rule violations and disciplinary write-ups. It found no evidence that he had markedly improved or been rehabilitated, and agreed that Judge Dyess gave “extremely detailed, well-considered reasons” supported by the record.
“Nathan never imagined he would still be seeking justice after 33 years,” Harrington said. “It began with the tragedy in 1993, and he has had to stand before courts and the Legislature to defend the sentences imposed for the murders of his wife and son, sentences he understood to mean something. He has had to recount details that no husband or father should ever have to repeat, and return again and again to the worst day of his life in an attempt to maintain the justice his family received.”
Harrington noted Strider’s preparation and arguments at the hearing and the Court of Appeal in an extraordinarily difficult case that required mastering years of changes in juvenile sentencing law and an extensive court record.
Strider said the ruling confirms that the justice system worked as it should: the courts heard all of the evidence, weighed it carefully and reached the correct result.
Strider added, “Jason Pilcher received every protection the law provides: a full hearing, experienced counsel, the chance to present evidence and expert testimony, and a thorough review by the Court of Appeal,” Strider said. “The law and our state constitution also recognize the rights of victims, and the Albritton family has carried a heavy burden while a lawful sentence was challenged decade after decade. After weighing all of it, the courts determined that this sentence should stand.”
“Phyllis and Justin Albritton, as well as Amanda, should always remain at the center of this case,” Harrington said.
Today, Jason Pilcher remains in custody without parole eligibility, and we hope this ruling brings the entire Albritton family another step closer to the finality they have fought for and deserved for far too long.