Jeremy Rashaud Harris murdered four men in Dallas and Collin Counties in separate incidents. (Mug shot: Collin County Jail)
Prosecutors in two Texas counties agreed to spare a serial killer the death penalty in exchange for him pleading guilty to murdering four men in unrelated incidents.
Jeremy Rashaud Harris, 34, was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for capital murder, according to records in Collin County.
First, on Oct. 31, 2020, he shot and killed Robert Jaden Urrea, 19, a student at Southern Methodist University who police believe was walking home from a party or bar in downtown Dallas.
On Nov. 14, 2020, Harris fatally shot Kenneth Hamilton, 57, who was in his car waiting at a red light.
That same day, he fatally shot Adam Gautreau, 36, near an intersection of Stemmons Freeway.
The last victim was the only one with a reported connection to Harris. Blair Carter, 60, the father of the defendant’s ex-girlfriend, was the maternal grandfather to Harris’ children
Authorities in the Collin County city of Celina discovered Carter’s body after firefighters responded to a house fire on Nov. 18, 2020, according to WFAA. Harris fled the scene, but law enforcement soon arrested him.
“Today was very emotional, but it was part of the healing process,” Monique Silas, Kenneth Hamilton’s niece, told KXAS in a Tuesday report.
“It absolutely tormented everybody,” said Melanie, a family friend of the Carter family. “[Harris] tore so many lives apart without a shred of compassion. So many random acts of violence for no reason just because he had a gun.”
“I want his face to haunt your dreams,” Robert Jaden Urrea’s mother told Harris in court. “You are a weak excuse for a man, a coward.”
“We know he’s never getting out of jail, and that brings us comfort because he can’t do this to anybody else,” Silas reportedly said.
“Today’s sentence of Life without Parole for Jeremy Harris ensures that this violent criminal can never again threaten public safety and innocent victims,” Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis reportedly said. “I hope that the finality of today’s sentence can serve as the first step in the healing process for all the victims left in his wake.
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