A Texas district attorney has announced that he will not seek the death penalty for convicted murderer and accused senior living serial killer Billy Chemirmir, but the DA has not clarified the status of nine pending capital murder indictments against Chemirmir.
Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis on Thursday announced that he will not seek the death penalty for Chemirmir, saying that his previous murder convictions will keep him behind bars for life.
“Billy Chemirmir is an evil person who preyed upon our most vulnerable citizens,” Willis said in a statement, according to several media outlets. “Although he is certainly deserving of a death sentence, my decision today is informed by the fact that he has already been tried three times in another county and he will never be a free man again.”
Willis’ statement does not indicate whether he intends to pursue nine capital murder indictments against Chemirmir in Collin County.
“Chemirmir has already been found guilty of capital murder by two separate Dallas County juries and is now serving two prison sentences of life without parole,” Willis reportedly said, adding that his decision was made in consultation with the families of his alleged victims and in light of a recommendation of the senior prosecutors in his office.
Chemirmir was arrested in 2018 following an attack on an independent living community resident, leading police to jewelry and other valuables belonging to other alleged victims.
Chemiirmir received two capital murder convictions in Dallas County related to the deaths Mary Brooks, an independent living community resident, and Lu Thi Harris, an older adult found dead in her home. In each case, he was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole. Prosecutors did not pursue the death penalty in either case.
Dallas County District Attorney John Cruezot said last fall that his office would dismiss the remaining 11 capital murder cases against Chemirmir in Dallas County, saying that Chemirmir would “die in the penitentiary.”
At the time, Collin County prosecutors did not indicate whether they would try Chemirmir on the nine murder cases thought to be linked to him in that county, which is adjacent to Dallas County.
Chemirmir is thought to be linked to at least 24 deaths — mostly of female residents of senior living communities — that took place in Texas between April 2016 and March 2018. Authorities said he posed as a maintenance worker to gain access to residences and then smothered the older adults before stealing their valuables. Many of the deaths were attributed to natural causes until one woman survived and helped police with their investigation.
Along with lawsuits from victims’ families maintaining that senior living operators did not do enough to protect residents, a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers previously introduced several bills in response to the series of suspected murders thought to be tied to Chemirmir.
So far, only one has been signed into law — SB 1132, filed by state Sen. Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas), regulating precious metal dealers, including cash-for-gold and pawn shops, where Chemirmir sold the jewelry he allegedly stole.
