A Dallas man suspected of trying to suffocate at least two elderly women and killing a third has been indicted on a charge of attempted capital murder in Collin County.
A grand jury this week indicted Billy Kipkorir Chemirmir, 45, on the charge in connection with the attack last year on a Frisco woman. He also faces a separate capital murder charge in the death of a Dallas woman.
Chemirmir remains jailed in Dallas County in lieu of $1.1 million bail. He has lived in Dallas for more than a decade, but court records note that he is a citizen of Kenya. Immigration authorities have placed a jail hold on him.
In March, Plano police were investigating the assault of a 91-year-old woman in her apartment. She reported that jewelry was stolen after a man put a pillow over her face, causing her to lose consciousness. Evidence led police to Chemirmir, who was seen dumping a jewelry box into a trash bin in Dallas. The box led police to the Dallas home of Lu Thi Harris, who was found dead of apparent suffocation.
Dallas police accuse Chemirmir of killing Harris, 81, and taking jewelry from her home. Police found a set of keys fitting Harris’ front door locks in Chemirmir’s vehicle.
Frisco police found details in the cases in Dallas and Plano similar to the attack on a 93-year-old woman on Oct. 29, 2017, at the Parkview Elderly Assisted Living in Frisco. Cellphone records put Chemirmir in that neighborhood around the time of the attack, according to a probable cause affidavit. Jewelry was also missing from her apartment.
Authorities said Wednesday that investigators continue to look at other deaths of elderly women in North Texas for possible connections to Chemirmir.
He has not been charged in the attack in Plano. Plano police spokesman David Tilley said detectives are taking their time in building their case since Chemirmir is already in custody. “We want it to be a rock-solid case,” Tilley said.
Chemirmir, who also used the name Benjamin Koitaba, has experience in health care, though no valid licenses have been found in Texas. He sometimes posed as a maintenance worker to gain access to retirement communities.
In 2016, Chemirmir pretended to be an employee to gain access at the Edgemere Retirement Community in Dallas, court records say. He gave a fake name to police who responded to a complaint. He was convicted of criminal trespass and failure to identify.
By Valerie Wigglesworth
