Man suspected of murdering 22 people killed by cellmate in Texas prison: Officials

(TENNESSEE COLONY, Texas) — A Texas man convicted of murdering two elderly women and suspected of killing nearly two dozen people total was found dead in his prison cell Tuesday following an attack by his cellmate, officials said.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials found Billy Chemirmir, 50, dead in his cell at the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, Texas, early Tuesday morning, the department said.

His cellmate, who is currently serving a murder sentence out of Harris County, was the assailant, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.

No further details, including the manner of death or the cellmate’s name, have been released amid an ongoing investigation by the state’s Office of Inspector General.

Chemirmir, who was a citizen of Kenya, worked as a home health care aide in several cities in north Texas before being accused of murdering his vulnerable patients and stealing their valuables.

He had been indicted on 22 capital murder charges in Dallas and Collin counties. Last year, he was found guilty of capital murder by two separate Dallas County juries for the 2018 deaths of Lu Thi Harris, 81, and Mary Brooks, 87.

In Collin County, where he was indicted on nine capital murder charges, prosecutors said last month they would not seek the death penalty in their cases, following Chemirmir’s two convictions.

“I won’t be mourning the murder of convicted serial killer Billy Chemirmir. Rather, my thoughts today are with the families of the precious ladies he murdered,” Collin County Criminal District Attorney Greg Willis said in a statement Tuesday. “These families have been through more than we can imagine, and I pray that someday they can find peace.”