Angel Families Want Death Penalty for Noncitizen Accused of Murdering 24 Senior Citizens in Texas

Dallas County Sheriff's Office via AP
DCSO

A foreign national accused of murdering 24 elderly Americans should face the death penalty, Angel Families of the suspect’s alleged victims say.

Last month, Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot announced that his office will not seek the death penalty against Billy Chemirmir, a Kenyan national, who is accused of murdering 24 elderly Americans in Texas from April 2016 to 2018.

After the announcement, state Rep. Jared Patterson (R) called Creuzot a “coward” for not seeking the death penalty against Chemirmir, warning Dallas, Texas, residents to leave the area out of concern for their safety.

“It’s a pattern we’re seeing in Dallas of lawlessness being acceptable,” Patterson told the Dallas Morning News. “If you are going to murder 18 to 24 people and not get the death penalty, then what are we doing?”

Some of Chemirmir’s alleged victims were killed in Collin County, Texas, giving prosecutors in the neighboring area the ability to try Chemirmir for murder and seek the death penalty after he is tried in Dallas County.

According to the Dallas Morning News, some Angel Families want Chemirmir tried in Collin County so that he can face the death penalty, a punishment they say he deserves:

Robert MacPhee, whose mother, Carolyn MacPhee, was killed at her home in Plano in December 2017, said Creuzot’s decision didn’t surprise him.

MacPhee said that he wasn’t sure whether life in a prison cell or execution would be a worse punishment but that he didn’t want taxpayers to pay to keep Chemirmir alive for the rest of his natural life.

“He deserves the death penalty,” he said. “If he doesn’t deserve it, gosh, I don’t know who else does.”

The Collin County District Attorney’s Office has not stated whether or not they will prosecute Chemirmir because the case in Dallas County is pending.

Chermirmir’s 24 alleged victims include:

  • 83-year-old Leah Corken
  • 82-year-old Juanita Purdy
  • 88-year-old Mary Brooks
  • 84-year-old Minnie Campbell
  • 82-year-old Ann Conklin
  • 75-year-old Rosemary Curtis
  • 85-year-old Norma French
  • 92-year-old Doris Gleason
  • 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris
  • 81-year-old Carolyn MacPhee
  • 81-year-old Miriam Nelson
  • 91-year-old Phyllis Payne
  • 94-year-old Phoebe Perry
  • 80-year-old Martha Williams
  • 82-year-old Joyce Abramowitz
  • 87-year-old Glenna Day
  • 89-year-old Solomon Spring
  • 90-year-old Doris Wasserman
  • 86-year-old Margaret White
  • 79-year-old Diana Delahunty
  • 93-year-old Mamie Dell Miya
  • 86-year-old Catherine Probst Sinclair
  • 90-year-old Marilyn Bixler
  • An 81-year-old “Jane Doe”

Breitbart News exclusively reported that Chemirmir first arrived in the U.S. on a B-2 tourist visa in July 2003. Though Chemirmir was supposed to only temporarily be in the U.S., he overstayed his visa.

Chemirmir was able to obtain a green card after marrying an American citizen in 2007.

Chemirmir had a criminal record, Breitbart News exclusively learned, including convictions for drunk driving, trespassing, assault, and obstructing a police officer. Chemirmir is currently being held in the Dallas County Jail.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here

Editor’s note: This article and headline were updated to reflect that Chemirmir entered the U.S. on a B-2 tourist visa in July 2003. His immigration status became illegal when his visa expired. However, in 2007, the federal government issued him a green card after he married a U.S. citizen.

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