Billy Chemirmir faces back-to-back life sentences after being convicted of murdering a second elderly woman because Dallas District Attorney John Creuzot has declined to seek the death penalty.
Suspected of killing nearly two dozen older women primarily at their assisted living homes, Chemirmir’s case has received significant attention, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Based on the evidence presented in court, Chemirmir allegedly posed as a maintenance man in order to enter elderly women’s homes before murdering them and stealing valuables from the residence.
Many of his victims were over 70 years old, including Mary Brooks, 87, Lu Thi Harris, 81, and 91-year-old Loren Adair Smith.
After initially filing paperwork that suggested he would pursue the death penalty, Creuzot changed course and refused to seek capital punishment for the suspected serial killer.
Without offering an explanation for his change of heart, Creuzot issued a statement informing a local news outlet that his office “would request two jury trials, with the goal of securing two life sentences without the possibility of parole.”
He further stated, “If that goal is achieved, this office will ask the court to order that the sentences be served consecutively. In effect, there will be no chance for Mr. Chemirmir to die anywhere except in a Texas prison.”
With his position on the ballot this November, Creuzot’s seeming reluctance to deploy the death penalty, even in cases like Chemirmir’s, has been highlighted by his political opponents.
Former Dallas district attorney and challenger Faith Johnson has criticized Creuzot, claiming that he goes easy on criminals. “The people of Dallas County would love the idea they finally have a DA that will uphold her oath,” she stated.
If elected, Johnson has indicated the district attorney’s office will resume seeking the death penalty in some instances under her direction.
Creuzot, however, suggests that he is not entirely against the death penalty despite never pursuing it in his tenure. “It’s my position that a death penalty should be pursued if you know that you can prove the elements of it,” he explained.
In order to sentence someone to death in Texas, the prosecution must show that “the defendant would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society.”
In the case of Chemirmir, however, Creuzot believes that the alleged serial killer potentially responsible for up to 22 murders is “quiet as a mouse.”
“There’s nothing about him to suggest that he would inflict any kind of meaningful harm or violence on anybody in the penal society,” Creuzot suggested.