Cheri Hayden

After being overturned TWICE by the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, on November 19, 2025, the Louisiana Supreme Court declined to intervene in Cheri Hayden’s case. Cheri Hayden’s conviction has been definitively overturned.

Despite her conviction being overturned, she remains in jail. Why?

Because Judge Steven Enright set a $250,000 bond and has refused to let her family offer proof of value in their home to get her released.  Instead, the family now must bail her out by cash or commercial surety. We are asking you to help them raise $30,000 to free Cheri.

Here is the link to the GoFundMe for Cheri’s bail, organized by her daughter Amy: https://gofund.me/133faa479.

Cheri’s conviction was first overturned by the Fifth Circuit in 2022 because of her trial lawyer’s failure to do any investigation of her alibi, or of the real perpetrator of the crime. Unfortunately, the Louisiana Supreme Court reversed that decision and sent her case back to the Fifth Circuit for review of her other claims. On July 2, 2025, the Fifth Circuit said, again, in a lengthy opinion that Cheri’s trial was not fair and declared what we have long known: that the State’s witness testified falsely to secure her wrongful conviction, and that she is INNOCENT. On November 19, after carefully reviewing the facts, the Louisiana Supreme Court let that determination stand.

It is now up to the Jefferson Parish District Attorney to decide whether to retry her or dismiss the charge against her. Given that five witnesses have stated that another woman, not Cheri, committed the crime, justice demands that all charges be dismissed and that she be freed. IJLA has been fighting to clear Cheri’s name for nearly 10 years. We will keep fighting for her until she is fully exonerated.

On February 23, 2008, Patricia Landry was killed during a botched purse snatching at Laborie’s Supermarket in Marrero, Louisiana, in which a truck ran her over.  Cheri was convicted based on unreliable eyewitness testimony, a leading contributor of wrongful convictions.  The eyewitnesses described the driver as being a young woman in her 20s and early 30s.  Cheri was in her mid-40s and looked much older than her age due to deep facial wrinkles on her face. When the eyewitnesses saw Cheri’s photo, they thought she looked like she was in her 50s or 60s. Despite the discrepancy between their descriptions of the female perpetrator and Cheri’s actual appearance, they nonetheless selected Cheri as the person who ran over Ms. Landry.  Through investigation, Innocence & Justice Louisiana uncovered new evidence showing that another woman committed the crime. This woman confessed to the crime to her mother, cousin, and friend. She also was seen dyeing her hair to change her appearance and packing her bags to leave town soon after the crime. When she was called as a witness by Innocence & Justice Louisiana at a post-conviction evidentiary hearing and questioned about the murder, she asserted her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and refused to answer any questions about the murder. Despite this wealth of evidence showing another woman committed the crime, Cheri remains in prison.

Cheri has been fighting Stage IV lung cancer and brain tumors in prison.  Her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren hope that Cheri will be able to come home soon.