A Dallas man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to a hate crime for shooting three women inside a Korean-owned hair salon in Dallas’ Koreatown in 2022.
Jeremy Theron Smith, 41, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the May 11, 2022, attack at Hair World Salon on Royal Lane. Court records show Smith admitted the shooting was motivated by “bias or prejudice against a group, namely Asian Americans,” WFAA reported.
Under the plea agreement accepted June 30, Smith received a 15-year prison sentence. Because the offense was designated a hate crime, he had faced a possible life sentence.
Shooting Targeted Dallas Koreatown Salon
The shooting occurred at Hair World Salon, located in Dallas’ historic Koreatown district. Responding officers found three women suffering from gunshot wounds. All three survived after being transported to area hospitals with injuries that authorities described at the time as non-life-threatening.
According to investigators, Smith fired more than a dozen rounds inside the salon before fleeing the scene. Surveillance video captured him running back to his vehicle carrying what police described as an assault-style rifle.
Smith was arrested five days later, on May 16, 2022.
Investigation Revealed Anti-Asian Bias
Investigators said Smith’s girlfriend told police he developed delusions involving Asian people after being involved in a traffic crash with an Asian man about two years before the shooting. She said he began experiencing panic attacks around people of Asian descent and believed Asian Americans were trying to harm him.
According to the investigation, Smith had also previously been fired from a job after verbally attacking his Asian supervisor.
Court records also link Smith to two other 2022 shootings targeting Asian-owned businesses in Dallas. No one was injured in those incidents.
Competency Restored Before Guilty Plea
The criminal case was delayed after Smith was found incompetent to stand trial. Records show his competency was restored in January 2025, allowing the prosecution to proceed.
The attack occurred during a period of heightened concern over anti-Asian violence across the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Victims Continue Recovering
In the weeks after the shooting, John Park, whose mother was among those wounded, said she underwent emergency surgery after a bullet pierced an artery and caused her to lose about half of her blood.
Park also said the salon closed indefinitely following the shooting and expressed concern about the emotional toll on the victims.
“She hasn’t stepped a single foot outside home,” he said of his mother, per WFAA.
Community Leaders Respond
Stephanie Drenka, executive director of the Dallas Asian American Historical Society, said the sentence may provide some measure of closure but emphasized that the broader issue remains.
“Targeted attacks like this that are motivated by bias send a message of fear to an entire community,” Drenka said, Fox 4 KDFW reported.
“Until we address the underlying root causes of racism and gun violence, it’s hard to feel like our community is safe,” she added.
Smith remains in the Dallas County Jail awaiting transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to begin serving his sentence.
Provided by Dallas Express
