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Creuzot Rejects Death Penalty in Potential Serial Killer Case

Creuzot Rejects Death Penalty in Serial Killer Case
Billy Chemirmir lowers his mask as a state witness is asked to identify him during his murder trial at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas. | Image by NBC DFW

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.

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23 Comments

  1. Storm44

    This low life needs to be thrown out of office. Do not re-elect this criminal. He does not stand for justice or defends the innocent. He is a disgrace.

    Reply
    • Michael

      Why didn’t Terry Nichols, Your favorite serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy,get the death penalty, oh that’s right they’re white.

      Reply
      • L Carolina

        They weren’t in states that had the death penalty.
        As a matter of fact, the death penalty was largely abolished for at least several decades.
        Manson originally was sentenced to death but when CA abolished the death penalty, his sentence was commuted to life without parole.
        Before you start slinging racist slurs, look up the laws regarding death penalty.
        As it is, YOU come across as the racist

        Reply
  2. Doug

    If there was ever a case that clearly justified the death penalty, this is it. Any DA that disagrees has a woke agenda snd is contributing to the crime problem.

    Reply
    • James R. Benat

      His Ludacris explanation is that the criminal must be a threat to other prisoners in order to get the death penalty not for his vicious crimes he has committed on the past.
      Maybe he is right there are no older women living alone in prison!

      Reply
  3. Brent

    Then he needs to take their place and be executed for their crimes.

    Reply
    • Michael

      Ok Brent,so the Judges for Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, the OK city bomber Terry Nichols, John Wayne Gacy 33 boys death to his credit, the unabomber, the golden state killer, ALL WHITE KILLERS, so Brent go make some calls stating that those Judges should take the killers place on death row, in ameriKKKa, you NEVER EVER, hear or see ANY white people EVER seek the death penalty when the killer is white,NEVER, but they sure in the Hell will seek it when they are black

      Reply
      • Jpchiesa

        It is the jury that determines the penalty. The judge only pronounces it, but also has the ability to change that determination. In many of the cases you mentioned those killers did receive the death penalty and it was the Supreme Court that overturned it.

        Reply
      • Pap

        You need to read my above comment. You haven’t a clue about facts. You’re stating idiocy. This isn’t about race, it’s about justice for VICTIMS.

        Reply
    • Bill Fox

      Wow. Are you publicly threatening death to an elected official?

      Reply
  4. Jpchiesa

    I’ve vacillated between being for or against the death penalty for decades, mainly because I’ve seen the state too often convict innocent people. But if I use that standard then I would be infering that Creuzot is not competent enough to successfully prosecute this case. By him stating his opposition to the death penalty for chemaymay because he, chemaymay is as quite as a mouse, supports my sentiment. Anybody that has been accused of murdering 22 people is irredeemable. Regardless of his current demeanor, it would be ludicrous to think given the opportunity he would not strike again if he thought he could get away with it. Chemaymay needs to be removed from this existence as quickly as possible, as well as Creuzot from office.

    Reply
  5. Tater Tot

    He literally spelled out who he thought should receive the death penalty, and this case literally matches that definition word word.
    This dude has a woke Soros agenda.

    Reply
    • Michael

      With a name like yours, you must be a PUNK, was the Judges for the unabomber, Charles Manson,Jeffrey Dahmer,John Wayne Gacy, ok city bomber Terry Nichols, the golden state killer that was just caught after 30-40 yrs are ALL WHITE KILLERS, of course you have no problem with them not getting the death penalty, were them Judges WOKE?white ameriKKKa NEVER EVER seek the death penalty when the killer is white EVEN when the victims are white and it doesn’t matter if the victims are children, elderly, handicapped, blind..ect,but y’all sure in the HELL will seek the death penalty when the killer is black.

      Reply
      • Pap

        Your ignorance is still showing. Read up about these people you’re bringing up and then MAYBE you’ll be enlightened. Gacy WAS executed. Duh. All murderers should be executed. I have no color preference. If they’re white, you can put them down faster as far as I’m concerned. You’re just saying because he’s not white that he shouldn’t be executed. Pretty narrow minded thinking there.

        Reply
  6. Steven

    Killing multiple senior citizens is a special kind of evil that deserves nothing less than the death penalty. I don’t understand how anyone can consider how a killer may act while incarcerated should have anything to do with their punishment. Just the killing of a single senior citizen in the manor in which he did would be enough to put this person that is obviously capable of great evil out of his misery with a lethal injection. I would volunteer to push the button and not loose a moment of sleep over it.

    Reply
    • Lisa

      I agree 100 percent!!

      Reply
  7. Glenn Hargrove

    We need to get this liberal left wing out of office. He has proven to be exactly what I knew he was. He says he believes in the death penalty but didn’t seek it in this case. If this guy didn’t deserve it then who does he thing would? Get him out of office.

    Reply
  8. Tim

    Another DA who no doubt is bought and paid for by George Soros’ ill gotten gains. Voters would be best served by getting rid (voting out) those in city council, or any other elected office, and replace with conservatives.

    Reply
  9. Millie

    This is almost like saying the elderly don’t count as victims – they were going to die soon anyway. If he had been out there taking the lives of 22 babies or women or younger people, would he look at that differently. What in his book constitutes a reason for seeking the death penalty. Is being “quiet as a mouse” afterward a ticket to get out of punishment. And the misery is not just those folks who suffered as a result of this man but also the relatives who already felt guilty at having their loved ones in a rest home, thinking they placed them in jeopardy. Sorry but our jails are already over flowing with criminals who might be rehabilitated, Why put someone in there who would have gone on doing this if he had not been caught and what makes him think if he were free he would not do it again….What does he expect to achieve by keeping this person alive in our system till death naturally comes to him or till some judge thinks he is too old to commit more deaths and lets him loose, regardless of a sentence with no probation tagged on it.

    Reply
  10. Pap

    WTH has being quiet got to do with anything? I’ve always heard it’s the quiet ones you need to watch out for. So this idiot thinks he can read people better than anyone else? Not pompous much, huh?

    Reply
  11. Anna

    It’s ludicrous that this liberal moronic district attorney will not give a convicted criminal the death penalty for killing elderly ladies in order to steal their belongings. If this liberal piece of human excrement is re-elected I’ll be ashamed to have even lived in Dallas County!!! Dumocraps are EVIL IMHO! 🤬

    Reply
  12. Bill Fox

    Man, you people in this discussion are some of the most ignorant and uneducated people out there and shouldn’t be allowed to vote. It is so much harder and costlier to convict people of the death penalty. This dude has two life sentences without a chance of parole. He isn’t going anywhere. Death penalty cases cost us way more money and take time away from our courts with appeals.

    Again, this excuse for an online news outlet is owned by a dude that took part in the Jan 6 attempted coup in DC. F this guy.

    Reply
    • Pap

      People were murdered and you’re talking about money? Russia years ago finally captured a serial killer of many, many children. No question he was guilty…he even led them to more burial sites. After he was convicted, an officer walked him down a hall to a empty concrete room with a drain in the floor and shot him in the back of the head. Short, sweet and inexpensive. “Citizen X”.

      Reply

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