What to Know
- ‘The Definition of a Serial Killer:' Police Tie Celina Murder Suspect to at Least 3 Dallas Murders
- Victim's Family Expresses Relief After Police Arrest Man Accused of Multiple North Texas Killings
- Dallas Police Suspect 3 Separate Saturday Shootings Are Connected
A North Texas serial killer will spend the rest of his life in prison without the chance of parole.
Jeremy Harris pled guilty Tuesday to four murders and multiple shootings that terrorized people across North Texas during the fall of 2020.
After taking a plea deal and waiving his right to trial, victims and families addressed Harris directly, providing gut-wrenching testimony.
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“Today was very emotional, but it was part of the healing process,” said Monique Silas, Kenneth Hamilton's niece, after the hearing.
Hamilton was shot on November 14, 2020, while waiting at a red light on South Beckley in Dallas.
“We know he’s never getting out of jail, and that brings us comfort because he can’t do this to anybody else,” Silas said.
At the time of Harris’ arrest, Dallas police called him the definition of a serial killer as they investigated a series of random shootings.
SMU student Robert Jaden Urrea was fatally shot as he walked home from a Halloween party.
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His mother testified Tuesday next to a photo of her son.
“I want his face to haunt your dreams,” Urrea’s mother told Harris. “You are a weak excuse for a man, a coward.”
She told the court she had flown to Dallas on the morning of Urrea’s murder for a planned visit to spend time together. As she stepped off the plane, she received a phone call saying her son was dead.
“You are a weak excuse for a man, a coward,” she told Harris.
A letter from the mother of Adam Gautreau was read to the court. The 36-year-old father was shot nine times near an intersection of Stemmons Freeway.
Those who survived an attack on their life testified about the ongoing physical and mental trauma they’ve endured.
Police finally caught Harris after the murder of Blair Carter inside his Celina home.
The father of an ex-girlfriend and the grandfather to Harris’ children, Carter appeared to be the only victim with a connection.
“It absolutely tormented everybody,” said Melanie, a family friend of the Carters. “[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.”
By pleading guilty Tuesday, Harris avoids the death penalty and will serve life in prison without parole.
“He was too coward to do that, but ya know, he wasn’t too coward to shoot all those innocent people so it didn’t surprise me that he plead out because it was to save himself,” Melanie said.
The judges and attorneys in Collin and Dallas counties agreed to allow Harris to plead guilty to all the crimes simultaneously so victims could gather in one courtroom.
After the proceeding, Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis released a statement:
"Today's sentence of Life without Parole for Jeremy Harris ensures that this violent criminal can never again threaten public safety and innocent victims. 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.
I would like to thank all the many law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation and arrest of this defendant, especially the Celina Police Department, who served as the primary investigative agency on our case."
