After 40 Years of Law Enforcement, Kerye Ashmore Prepares to Retire

By Jerrie Whiteley, Herald Democrat

After more than 40 years as a prosecutor, including 20 years in Grayson County, Kerye Ashmore will retire from the Grayson County District Attorney’s Office at the end of July.

Upon retirement, Ashmore plans to take a long leave of absence and then return to practicing law in the private sector.

“Kerye was a prosecutor in Victoria in the early 2000s, after serving as chief prosecutor and then elected district attorney in Lamar County,” said Joe Brown, who brought Ashmore to the Grayson County district attorney’s office years ago. “I was early in my tenure, looking for great people, and I heard from several people what a great prosecutor Kerye Ashmore was and that he wanted to come back to North Texas, where he had family.”

“I contacted him and we met. He had such a great resume that we clicked right away. Hiring Kerye was one of the best decisions I ever made. Our public really doesn’t understand the impact this man had on law enforcement in Grayson County. He not only handled some of the most serious cases that we’ve had in the last 20 years, he made law enforcement better by teaching them what it takes to build a good case and holding them to a high standard. And he trained a generation of lawyers that have come through this office. He really deserves credit for making this District Attorney’s Office the great office it is today,” Brown said.

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

“I thought I would become a lawyer, that I could help people, and I was interested in working in court,” he said.

He earned a law degree from Southern Methodist University. He passed the bar in 1979 and began practicing law in Paris with a few friends. They had a general civil law firm, and in 1985 he went out on his own. But in 1983, the elected district attorney in Paris asked Ashmore to work for him as a first assistant. In Paris at that time, you could be both a private practice attorney and a prosecutor. In 1989, the Lamar County Circuit Court asked him to handle prosecution full time, and he did. He served one term as elected district attorney in Lamar County.

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

While there, Ashmore has handled or helped handle some of the county’s most high-profile cases, including that of Andre Thomas, who is currently appealing his death sentence for the murder of a three-year-old girl. Thomas also killed his own son and ex-wife in the same incident.

Many local law enforcement and first responders who worked the case recall it as one of the worst scenes they had ever witnessed. It was one of seven death penalty cases Ashmore tried as a prosecutor. He prosecuted 100 murder cases and won 75 life sentences. He prosecuted more than 350 criminal jury trials. He also trained many young lawyers along the way, including current District Attorney Brett Smith.

“Kerye Ashmore was there for me when I tried my first murder trial in Grayson County in 2008, and he was there for me when I tried my last murder trial in 2023,” Smith said. “Both cases resulted in life sentences. I have worked with Mr. Ashmore for almost 20 years. Kerye has an encyclopedic knowledge of the law and can often quote cases and the law off the top of his head. When he didn’t have the answer right away, he would take the problem as a challenge and research it until he found the answer.

“I remember when the Court closed for Covid, we started over in December 2020. Mr. Ashmore was back in the courtroom, trying the murder of Antonio Prado. He ended the next year trying the jury trials of Timothy Barnum and Tyrone Summers for the murder of Robert Allen. The fact that he had tried three complex murder trials in a little over 13 months, as he approached the end of his career, is a testament to his tenacity.”

Smith also added that his fondest memories of Ashmore are his dedication, loyalty and caring nature.

“Kerye was very loyal to the Grayson County District Attorney’s Office and his community, sacrificing himself for both sides,” he said. “Kerye was also very protective of the prosecutors in his office, the rule of law and the victims of violent crimes. He was never afraid to stand up for what was right and do what was right, even if it upset a few people.”

Ashmore was quick to point out that a career like his couldn’t be built on his own.

“I’ve always worked with a great staff and I’ve worked with really good law enforcement officers, and that all adds up to a really good career,” he said. Noting that law enforcement isn’t a 40-hour-a-week job, he said he really appreciated coworkers who were willing to put in the extra hours.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of young lawyers and watch them become really good prosecutors and lawyers, and you’d like to think that a little bit of that is what you’ve passed on to them. You’re always trying to let them know that we’re good guys and we have to act like it and we have to do what’s right.”

Ashmore gave special praise to his longtime assistant Sandye Brown, Investigator Mike Ditto and former Grayson County Assistant District Attorney Nathan Young, as well as local law enforcement officers who have tried cases for him over the years.

He also admitted that without an understanding wife, his pursuit of justice would have been much more difficult over the years.

“Having a good woman who understands that the law is a jealous mistress, and Kelly has been a great wife to someone who has given me as much time as I have over the years and has been understanding of me,” he said.

Ashmore and his wife, Grayson County Clerk Kelly Ashmore, have four sons and six grandchildren who will be an important part of their retirement plans.

“They are a delight,” Kerye Ashmore said of the three little boys and three little girls, aged three to 11.

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

Kerrye and Kelly Ashmore.