Cornelious to serve 60 years as habitual offender

A Shreveport man convicted of illegal possession of a firearm and unauthorized use of a stolen vehicle earlier this year must serve 60 years in prison as a habitual offender, a Caddo District judge ordered Wednesday, May 20, 2026.

Jamaria Cornelious, 30, was convicted February 24, 2026, of one count of felon in possession of a firearm and one count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. This was in connection with an October 8, 2024 incident at the Sonic Restaurant in the 7100 block of Mansfield Road. Shreveport police responded to reports of a suspicious person. The defendant, subsequently identified as Cornelious, attempted to drive away when the officer arrived. The officer blocked the only ingress and egress from the parking lot. When the officer asked the driver to step out of his vehicle, the driver abruptly put the car in reverse and fled to the rear of the lot. As the officer approached a second time, the driver sped to the front of the parking lot and attempted to jump a curb, rendering the car undrivable. Cornelious then was handcuffed and taken into custody.

When police searched the car, they found a Glock handgun underneath the front passenger seat. Based on Cornelious' own statements, prosecutors proved he knew about the handgun, and were also able to show that Cornelious' explanation of the presence of the gun did not match testimony of a family member who testified that the gun had fallen from his pocket earlier in the evening. Prosecutors also were able to establish Cornelious had been convicted of indecent behavior with a juvenile in 2015 and illegal use of a weapon in 2014. Cornelious also had been convicted of attempted possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in 2020 in Bossier Parish.

Investigation also revealed that the car Cornelious drove had been stolen. At the time of his arrest, Cornelious told the arresting officer he did not know who owned the car, which made it impossible for him to have permission to use it.

Following the February convictions, prosecutors filed a Habitual Offender Bill seeking to have Cornelious sentenced under harsher provisions. At a habitual offender hearing in March, the court found that Cornelious was a second-time felony offender with the firearm possession charge and a fourth-time felony offender with respect to the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle charge. Therefore he faced up to 40 years on the gun conviction and 20 years to life for unauthorized use.  

At Wednesday's sentencing hearing, District Judge Donald E. Hathaway Jr. sentenced Cornelious to the maximum of 40 years on the firearm conviction and to the minimum 20 years for unauthorized use with the sentences to be served consecutively, for a total of 60 years. 

Assistant District Attorneys Christopher S. Bowman and Jason Waltman prosecuted Cornelious. He was defended by David Shepherd. 

The case was docket No. 404576.

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