Dallas man gets 15 years for 2022 hate crime shooting at Korean hair salon

A Dallas man was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to a hate crime charge for shooting three Korean American women at a northwest Dallas hair salon in 2022.

Jeremy Theron Smith, 40, pleaded guilty on June 30 to one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to court documents. The hate crime designation raised his maximum possible sentence to as much as life in prison, but State District Judge Dominique Collins handed him 15 years in prison in accordance with the plea agreement.

Smith admitted that his bias against Asian Americans motivated the May 11, 2022, incident at Hair World Salon on Royal Lane, where he fired more than a dozen rounds from a .22-caliber rifle. Three women were injured and survived. Prosecution had been delayed after Smith was found incompetent to stand trial, but his competency was restored in January 2025 and the case resumed.

Smith was indicted in August 2022 on seven counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, each carrying a hate crime enhancement. At the time, we reported that one victim — a first-time customer at the salon — narrowly avoided paralysis. Separately, investigators said Smith’s girlfriend told them his delusions about Asian people began after he was involved in a car crash with an Asian man, and that he had previously been fired from a job for “verbally attacking” his boss, who was Asian.

In a statement, Stephanie Drenka, executive director of the Dallas Asian American Historical Society, noted that the sentencing may bring some closure but does not resolve the deeper causes of anti-Asian violence. “Carceral punishment holds one individual accountable, but does not confront the broader currents of racism and anti-Asian violence in this country, especially at a moment when anti-immigrant rhetoric is on the rise,” she said.

The 2022 shooting occurred during a nationwide rise in anti-Asian hate incidents tied to pandemic-era conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19. In Dallas, the plea agreement also connected Smith to two other 2022 shootings at Asian-owned businesses, neither of which caused injuries. Needless to say, addressing anti-Asian violence requires education about Asian American culture and history alongside legal accountability.

Smith is being held in the Dallas County Jail and will be moved to a state prison to begin serving his sentence.