A man accused of killing dozens of elderly women last year was killed by his prison cellmate.
Billy Chemirmir‘s body was discovered by guards at a rural East Texas prison the morning of Sept.19. Chemirmir, who was a Kenyan living in Dallas, was convicted in 2022 after being found guilty of murdering two women, though he is believed to have murdered 22 victims over a two-year killing spree,
according to the Associated Press.Officials announced Chemirmir, 50, was found dead in the cell, with all evidence pointing toward his cellmate. Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson Hannah Haney said that Chemirmir’s cellmate was also serving a murder sentence.
Haney told the AP that the convicted killer was killed by his cellmate, but did not divulge what led to Chermirmir’s death or the cellmate’s name.
According to police reports, Chemirmir would commit his murders by targeting elderly women in the Dallas area and then stealing their belongings. Civil suits were also filed, accusing him of an additional six murders.
“My mother died in fear,” said Shannon Dion, the daughter of one of Chemirmir’s victims, 92-year-old victim Doris Gleason, said in a press conference. “This man did not have a peaceful passing. There’s some relief in feeling that he didn’t get off easily.”
Chemirmir was caught in 2018 after a 91-year-old woman survived his murder attempt and detailed the deadly scheme, connecting him to a murder. Chemirmir was indicted on 22 capital murder charges and serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole at the time of his death. He remained adamant that he was innocent.
The investigation into Chemirmir’s murder is being conducted by the Office of Inspector General. He was imprisoned at the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, about 100 miles southeast of Dallas.
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