Man given life sentence after pleading guilty to raping 4 women in their North Texas homes

Harriet Ramos
·2 min read
12

A 51-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to four home invasion sexual assaults in four North Texas counties, including Tarrant County.

DNA testing helped link Jeffery Lemor Wheat to the four assaults in Arlington, Plano, Coppell and Shady Shores, according to a news release from the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office.

Assistant Tarrant County District Attorney Stephanie Simpson said they’re grateful for all the agencies that worked together to get justice for the rape victims.

“Their hard work also ensures the safety of all women in our community moving forward,” Simpson said in the release.

Wheat’s arrest and conviction resulted from a years-long investigation by law enforcement officers and the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, according to the release. He was arrested in Crawford County, Arkansas, in 2021.

In September 2003, an Arlington woman told police that a man entered her home in the early hours of the morning and climbed on her bed. He was nude except for a white shirt over his face and socks on his hands and feet, according to Wheat’s arrest warrant affidavit.

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Due to DNA testing limitations, police didn’t get any leads from examining socks the assailant left behind or a swab from the area where the Arlington woman said he kissed her. The case was suspended.

Years later, the evidence was resubmitted to a crime lab, and investigators discovered the DNA matched three other North Texas sexual assault cases which occurred between 2010 and 2011.

The Arlington Police Department and law enforcement officers from Dallas, Denton and Collin counties all worked on the case, according to the release.