Billy Chemirmir.Photo: Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via AP
A manaccused of killing 22 elderly womenin the Dallas area is standing trial for the death of one of the victims Monday.
Billy Chemirmir, 49, will appear in a Dallas court for the murder of Mary Brooks, 87, who was found dead on the floor of her home in Richardson, Texas in January 2018.
Chemirmir is already serving a life sentence without parole for the smotheringdeath of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harrisin March 2018 after they met at a Walmart supermarket.
If convicted of the murder of Brooks, Chemirmi will receive the exact same punishment from the court, reportedNBC NewsMonday.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
In 2020, Chemirmir, a former health care worker, was charged in connection with the deaths of 14 elderly people in Dallas and Collin Counties between 2016 and 2018. Civil lawsuits name him as a defendant in at least eight more.
Dallas County Jail
“Chemirmir used his healthcare experience to his advantage, targeting and exploiting seniors, some of the most vulnerable people in our community,” then-Plano police chief Gregory W. Rushin said in a March 2018 press conference. “This is terribly disturbing.”
An investigation into Chemirmir began in March 2018 when Mary Bartel, who was 91 years old at the time, says she survived one of his alleged. She told police that he forced his way into her apartment at a senior living center and smothered her with a pillow. He took off with her jewelry after she passed out.
Most of Chemirmir’s alleged victims were killed in the same manner, with the 49-year-old allegedly forcing his way into apartments of seniors living in an independent community center, or entering their homes under the guise of being a maintenance worker.
In 2020, Chemirmir pleaded not guilty to all charges and his lawyers said that the cases against him are largely circumstantial. But authorities say that they have a mountain of evidence, including surveillance video, DNA samples and Bartel’s eyewitness account.
Prior to his 2021 trial involving Harris' death, the Kenyan immigrant with permanent resident status in the U.S., Chemirmir was held in the Dallas County Jail on $11.6 million bond.
source: people.com
