Indiana woman Reba LaJoy Wilson, 45, has been sentenced by a Marion County Superior Court judge to 10 years in an Indiana state correctional facility for crimes she pleaded guilty to committing in March 2024. Wilson pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and intimidation with a deadly weapon in a deal that ensured she avoided an even longer prison sentence.
The bizarre chain of events leading to her imprisonment began when she called appliance repair technician Nathaniel Baird to her home in the 3700 block of Payton Avenue because her dryer needed fixing.
When Baird arrived at the house, the two were immediately at odds. He diagnosed the issue and charged her $70. Wilson then claimed the appliance was still under warranty and reportedly told Baird she did not want to pay. He responded that he was going to leave because he does not work for free.
She told him he got off lucky
That’s when things went from bad to worse. Baird claimed Wilson pointed a gun at him and tried to hold him hostage until he fixed her dryer. Baird then started trying to figure out a way to get out of the situation without getting shot. At first, he pretended to work while thinking of how to escape.
As he got closer to the back door, which he intended to bolt through, Wilson allegedly stood in front of it, made herself appear wider, and tried to prevent him from leaving. Still, Baird saw an opening and bolted through an unguarded door. At that point, Wilson allegedly fired a shot and shouted, “You’re lucky I didn’t kill you.”
When Baird reached the safety of his car, he immediately called 911 and reported what had happened. It did not take long before police arrived at the scene to investigate. Officers searched Wilson’s house and found a gun hidden behind a couch. They also recovered a shell casing on top of the dryer that had been at the center of the confrontation.
As a result, Wilson was charged with five offenses. She pleaded guilty to two of them, while prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining three as part of the plea deal: criminal confinement, criminal recklessness, and pointing a firearm at another person.
Reportedly, Wilson was barred from owning a firearm because she had been classified as a serious violent felon following an escape conviction in an unrelated felony case in 2008. The court therefore treated her as a repeat offender, which played a role in her decade-long sentence.
The judge said she’s “unworthy” of house arrest
Another factor that prolonged the case was that, despite there being a warrant for her arrest, authorities were reportedly unable to locate her for more than a year. Her defense attorney argued that, because of her multiple sclerosis, she should be allowed to serve her sentence under home confinement.
However, Marion County Superior Judge Charles F. Miller cited her eight prior convictions and declared her “unworthy” of community corrections. Wilson will now have plenty of time to learn what it feels like to be confined against her will as she serves her sentence until 2036.
Published: Jul 23, 2026 11:35 am