By Jerrie Whiteley, Herald Democrat

After more than 40 years serving as a prosecutor with 20 years in Grayson County, Kerye Ashmore will retire from the Grayson County District Attorney’s Office in late July.

After retirement, Ashmore said plans to take a nice long vacation and then return to practicing law in the private sector.

“Kerye was working as a prosecutor in Victoria in early 2000, after having served for years as a lead prosecutor, and then the elected District Attorney in Lamar County,” said Joe Brown who brought Ashmore to the Grayson County District Attorney’s Office all of those years ago. I was early in my term, and looking for great people, and heard from several people what a great prosecutor Kerye Ashmore was, and that he was wanting to get back to North Texas where he had family.”

“I reached out to him, and we met. He had such a great resume, and we hit it off right away. Hiring Kerye was one of the best decisions I ever made. Our public really does not understand what type of impact that man has had on law enforcement in Grayson County. Not only has he ably handled the most serious cases that have happened over the last 20 years, but he has made law enforcement better by teaching them what is expected to build a good case and holding them to a high standard. And he has trained a generation of lawyers that have come through that office. He really deserves much of the credit for making the District Attorney’s Office the very good office that it is today,” Brown said.

Ashmore was born in Texas in 1954 but his dad was a career Air Force pilot and they moved around a lot. He grew up all over the US and in Spain. His grand parents lived in Paris, Texas, so the family settled there when his father retired. He went to high school and community college there in Paris before going to Howard Payne University in Brownwood. While there, he became interested in the law.

“I felt like being an attorney, you could help people and I was interested in doing trial work,” he said.

He went to law school at Southern Methodist University. He took the bar 1979 and started practicing law in Paris with some friends. They had a general civil practice firm and in 1985 he went out on his own. But in 1983, the elected District Attorney there in Paris asked Ashmore to go to work for him as a first assistant. In Paris at that time, one could be both a private practice attorney and a prosecutor. In 1989, the Lamar County commissioners court asked him to go into prosecution full time and he did. He served one term as the elected District Attorney in Lamar County. 

“When Joe Brown became DA in Grayson County, I had a friend who was the former DA in Red River County, Tom Fowler, who contacted me,” Ashmore said and the rest was Grayson County history.

While here Ashmore either handled or helped to handle some of the county’s most notorious cases including that of Andre Thomas who currently is appealing his sentenced to death row for the murder of a three-year-old little girl. Thomas also killed his own son and his ex-wife in the same incident. 

Many local members of law enforcement and first responders who worked that case recall it as one of the worst scenes they have ever witnessed. It was one of seven death penalty cases Ashmore would try as a prosecutor. He has prosecuted 100 murder cases and won 75 life sentences. He has prosecuted more than 350 felony jury trials. Along the way, he also trained many young attorneys. One of those is the current District Attorney Brett Smith. 

“Kerye Ashmore was by my side when I conducted my first murder trial in Grayson County in 2008 and also by my side when I conducted my last murder trial in 2023,” Smith said. “Both cases resulted in life sentences.  I have worked with Mr. Ashmore for nearly 20 years. Kerye has an encyclopedic knowledge of the law and can often cites cases and the law off the top of his head. When he did not have an answer off the top of his head, he accepted the issue as a challenge and would research the issue until he found the answer.

“I recall when the Court’s shut down due to Covid, we started back in December of 2020. Mr. Ashmore got right back into the Courtroom conducting the Antonio Prado murder trial. He ended the following year conducting the jury trials of Timothy Barnum and Tyrone Summers for the Robert Allen murder. The fact that nearing the end of his career he conducted three complex murder trials in just over a 13-month period is a testament to his tenacious personality.”

Smith also said his fondest memory of Ashmore is his devoted loyalty and his protective nature.

“Kerye was very loyal to the Grayson County District Attorney’s Office and his community, making personal sacrifices for both,” he said. “Kerye was also very protective of the prosecutors in his office, the rule of law, and the victims of violent crime. He was never afraid to stand up for what was right and to do the right thing, even if it ruffles a few feathers.”  

Ashmore was quick to point out that one does not build the kind of career he has had on his own.  

“I have always worked with a great staff and have worked with some really fine law enforcement officers and that all goes into a really career,” he said. Noting that prosecuting is not a 40-hour a week job, he said he has really appreciated having coworkers who were willing to put in those extra hours as well. 

“I’ve gotten to work with a lot of young attorneys, and I have been able to watch them go on to be really fine prosecutors and attorneys and you would like to think that a little part of that is what you have imparted to them. You always try to let them know that we are the good the guys and we’ve got to act like that and we’ve got to do the right thing.”

Ashmore gave special praise to his long-time assistant Sandye Brown, investigator Mike Ditto and former assistant Grayson County District Attorney Nathan Young and the departments of local law enforcement officers who have brought him cases over the years.    

He also acknowledged that his pursuit of justice would have been much harder over the years without a very understanding wife. 

“Having a good woman that understands that the law is a jealous mistress and Kelly has been a great a wife for someone who spends the hours that I have over the years and has been understanding about that,” he said.

Between them Ashmore and his wife Grayson County District Clerk Kelly Ashmore have four sons and six grandchildren who will feature prominently in their retirement plans.

“They are a delight,” Kerye Ashmore said of the three little boys and three little girls that range in age from three to 11 years old.

“They are all at a good age. They still love their Papa and Darlin,” Kerye Ashmore said. 

Kerye and Kelly Ashmore.