From AP News.com (Sept. 19, 2023):
DALLAS (AP) — A Texas prisoner accused of killing 22 older women over two years, preying on them so he could steal jewelry and other valuables, was slain Tuesday by his cellmate while serving a life sentence, prison officials said.
Billy Chemirmir, 50, who was convicted last year in the slayings of two women, was found dead in his cell at a prison in rural East Texas, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson Hannah Haney said. He was killed by his cellmate who was also serving a prison sentence for murder, according to Haney.
Chemirmir’s death comes about two weeks after Texas’ 100 prisons were placed on a rare statewide lockdown because of a rise in the number of killings inside the facilities, which prisons officials have said were related to drugs.
Haney did not release the name of the cellmate, how Chemirmir was killed or what may have led to the slaying.
Family members of those he was accused of killing expressed shock and relief at the news.
“My mother died in fear. This man did not have a peaceful passing. There’s some relief in feeling that he didn’t get off easily,” Shannon Dion, whose 92-year-old mother, Doris Gleason, was among those Chemirmir was charged with killing, said at a news conference.
Time after time, the deaths in Dallas and nearby cities were initially determined to be from natural causes, even as family members raised alarm about missing jewelry.
Chemirmir was caught after a 91-year-old woman survived a 2018 attack and told police a man had forced his way into her apartment at an independent living community for seniors, tried to smother her with a pillow and took her jewelry.
Police said they found Chemirmir the following day in the parking lot of his apartment complex holding jewelry and cash, having just thrown away a large red jewelry box. Documents in the jewelry box led them to the home of Lu Thi Harris, 81, who was dead in her bedroom.
After Chemirmir’s arrest, police across the area reexamined deaths, and the charges against him grew. Many of the victims’ children have said they were left perplexed by the deaths at the time, as their mothers, though older, were still healthy and active. [read more]
Well, at least he won't get out, terrorize and murder anyone else.
Another article on murderer:
Cellmate who killed suspected Texas serial killer Billy Chemirmir identified

