DALLAS — Suspected North Texas serial killer Billy Chemirmir was killed by his prison cellmate with a "knife/edged instrument," according to a new report from the Texas Attorney General's Office.
The report, which was filed Sept. 27, confirmed what officials had previously said about Chemirmir's death in that his cellmate was the suspect.
The report, which was filed as a custodial death report as part of the attorney general's investigation of Chemirmir's Sept. 19 death, did not provide many details on what happened, saying only that Chemirmir "was assaulted by his cellmate and sustained injuries resulting in his death."
The report said Chemirmir died of "blunt force trauma" and that a "knife/edged instrument" was the weapon used in the killing.
Chemirmir's cellmate's name has not been released, though officials did confirm he was serving time on a murder charge out of Harris County.
The killing happened at the Coffield state prison in Tennessee Colony, a town located about halfway between Houston and Dallas.
Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot told WFAA that Chemirmir was killed after apparently making inappropriate comments sexual in nature about his cellmate's children.
According to Creuzot, the cellmate allegedly beat Chemirmir, dragged him out of his cell and killed him while other inmates watched. No one intervened and Chemirmir may have been stabbed with a pen, Creuzot said.
"Even though they are on lockdown, apparently [the cellmate] somehow opened the door and dragged [Chemirmir] into the hallway and there were other prisoners who saw it and not one intervened and no one called for help," Creuzot told WFAA. "He was basically there for 15 to 20 minutes before anybody with authority could figure out what happened. When they got there, they tried to revive him, but he died."
Chemirmir was convicted in April 2022 of capital murder in the smothering death of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris. He received the same punishment after being convicted of killing 87-year-old Mary Brooks.
It was Mary Annis Bartel's survival of a March 2018 attack that set Chemirmir's arrest in motion. Bartel, 91 at the time, told police that 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.
Before Bartel died in 2020, she described the attack in a taped interview that was played at Chemirmir's previous trials. She said the minute she opened her door and saw a man wearing green rubber gloves, she knew she was in “grave danger.”
Police said they found Chemirmir the next day in the parking lot of his apartment complex. He was holding jewelry and cash, and he had just thrown away a large red jewelry box. Documents in the box led them to the home of Harris, who was found dead in her bedroom, lipstick smeared on her pillow.
Most of Chemirmir's alleged victims lived in apartments at independent living communities for older people. The women he’s accused of killing in private homes include the widow of a man he had cared for while working as an at-home caregiver.
At a press conference after Chemirmir's death, family members of the victims Chemirmir was charged with killing gathered to share their reactions.
"Perhaps this is a form of justice," said Shannon Dion, the daughter of victim Doris Gleason. "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."
Loren Smith, the daughter of victim Phyllis Payne, described a sense of relief.
"We certainly don't condone murder, but one of the things that we said was, 'Ah, it's over,'" Smith said.
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