Suspect Charged with Attempted Murder of Travis County Judge

State District Judge Julie Kocurek, photo from Statesman.com

Communities throughout Travis County were shaken by the attempted murder of State District Judge Julie Kocurek in West Austin on November 6, 2015. Judge Kocurek was shot in the driveway of her home after returning from a high school football game. After being rushed to University Medical Center-Brackenridge, doctors determined that her injuries were non-life threatening.

The search for the assailant extended beyond Tarrytown, the West Austin neighborhood where Kocurek resided, and into Houston (roughly 3 hours and 30 minutes southeast of Austin). After an extensive search that lasted no more than 48 hours, 28-year-old Chimene Hamilton Onyeri was identified by Austin police and taken into custody for the attempted murder of Judge Kocurek. Onyeri was facing a different charge for murder, and was scheduled to appear in Kocurek’s courtroom in December 2015. The assailant is currently being held in a Houston jail without bail. The murder trial date has been set for September 2016.

Local news source KVUE Austin reached out to the judicial community in Travis County to learn more about Judge Kocurek and received overwhelming responses from her colleagues.

“You know, you read about judges belittling people, yelling at people, calling people words — that’s not her at all. If you ask me to list judges that would make people angry with them, she would be near the bottom of the list in Travis County,” said Judge Jon Wisser, a former state district court judge.[1]

According to the judge’s family member, Kocurek will return to work after recuperating from her injuries.

“While she is focused on her recovery at the moment, Judge Kocurek will return to her public service duties as soon as is practicable. Judge Kocurek’s condition continues to improve and she would like everyone to know how much she has appreciated the outpouring of support and friendship,” the statement said, as published in the Austin American Statesman. [3]

Judge Kocurek has been the presiding criminal courts judge in Travis County since 2011. During that time, she worked to improve the defense system used to appoint lawyers to impoverished citizens’ cases. According to KVUE Austin, Kocurek was also “overseeing the case of Mark Norwood, who was convicted in the infamous 1986 killing of Christine Morton and is now facing charges in the 1988 death of Debra Baker.” [2]

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