An attempted assassination nearly claimed her life, now State District Judge Julie Kocurek is breaking her silence for the first time since the November attack. She sat down with our John Salazar to talk about the death threat that was nearly carried out in Austin.

"I take every threat seriously," said Kocurek.

Kocurek is talking about a death threat she says a Travis County investigator ignored.

"It was very poorly investigated," she said.

Speaking candidly for the first time since she cheated death from a barrage of close range gun shots, the State District Judge agreed to answer questions from only two reporters.

"In my situation there was a threat. And I was not told," said Kocurek. "The bottom line is that I should have been told by someone."

"You're still upset about that?" asked Time Warner Cable News Reporter John Salazar.

"Yes. Because I believe this would have been prevented. I believe this would not have happened had I known," said Kocurek.

Two weeks before a gunman opened fire on the judge in front of her home, a female caller warned the Travis County District Attorney's Office that a man she knew wanted to kill a Travis County judge.

"If I had known there was a threat, No. 1, I would have left the house," said Kocurek.

Kocurek said precautions would have come into play, had the DA's investigator shared information of a death threat.

"There are other things I could have done to ensure that if a person had made a threat, that I could keep them away from Austin, or from my house. Or wherever I was," she said.

Wounds from the flying shrapnel and glass are evident from the shooting.

"It was the most terrifying moment of my life. I did not know when the gunfire was going to stop. I thought I was going to die," Kocurek said.

Kocurek also lost her index finger as a result of the attack.

Investigators said voicemail messages identified a man named Chimene Onyeri, saying he, "killed a Travis County Judge."

"They didn't specifically say my name," said Kocurek.

Records show Onyeri was convicted in a 2012 Rollingwood fraud case in Kocurek's court.

The 28-year-old Onyeri was facing revoked probation and jail time in Kocurek's court at the time of the attack.

"But the person the threat was supposedly coming from, if it came though, was identified as being in this court," said Kocurek.

Days after the shooting, as Kocurek recovered at University Medical Center Brackenridge, Travis County investigators followed the callers lead, contacted the Houston Police Department and discovered that Onyeri was a suspect in a May 18 homicide, months earlier.

"I have the right to decide if a threat is credible," said Kocurek.

Under public and political pressure after the Kocurek shooting, Travis County acted immediately, tightening security policies to better protect judges, prosecutors, police and anyone who does business within the court system.

"Communication is better and it needed to be," she said.

As for Onyeri, he has not been charged in this crime. Even though detectives between Austin and Houston say he's the only suspect in Kocurek's attempted murder.

"Everyone has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty by the state. But a lot of time the state needs time to make a case against whoever they feel is the perpetrator," said Kocurek.

"Do you believe the correct person is in jail in Houston at this time?" asked Salazar.

"I will not comment on that," said Kocurek.

Onyeri is slated for trial in September in the murder of a Houston man.

He's currently sitting in the Harris County Jail on $1 million bond.

Onyeri's attorney says his client is innocent in both shootings.

-- What's Next --

Watch TWC News all day on Tuesday for Part 2 of our interview with State District Judge Julie Kocurek.

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