1y ago

Texas prisoner accused of killing 22 older women is slain by cellmate while serving life sentence

apnews.com Texas prisoner accused of killing 22 older women is slain by cellmate while serving life sentence

Officials say a man accused of killing nearly two dozen elderly women and who was convicted in the slayings of two has been killed by his Texas prison cellmate.

A Texas prisoner accused of killing 22 older women over two years, preying on them so he could steal jewelry and other valuables, was slain Tuesday by his cellmate while serving a life sentence, prison officials said.

Billy Chemirmir, 50, who was convicted last year in the slayings of two women, was found dead in his cell at a prison in rural East Texas, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson Hannah Haney said. He was killed by his cellmate who was also serving a prison sentence for murder, according to Haney.

Chemirmir’s death comes about two weeks after Texas’ 100 prisons were placed on a rare statewide lockdown because of a rise in the number of killings inside the facilities, which prisons officials have said were related to drugs.

Haney did not release the name of the cellmate, how Chemirmir was killed or what may have led to the slaying.

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Chemirmir’s death comes about two weeks after Texas’ 100 prisons were placed on a rare statewide lockdown because of a rise in the number of killings inside the facilities, which prisons officials have said were related to drugs.
So prisons can't maintain the one thing they are there for: security. The prisons or the government funding them are allowing this to happen. They are complicit in homicide. Society judged this man and sentenced him to life, not to execution. Being lax in duty resulting is death is negligent homicide.
- I love how they blame drugs when Texas prisons have been hitting record-breaking temperatures. Enough so to cause deaths. But yeah, drugs are the problem..
  Aside from that, this guy probably fucked with the wrong one. Someone probably wanted this asshole gone.
- Given the culture that surrounds prisoners, this isn't surprising at all.
  The prisons themselves are just for profit with zero interest in rehabilitation or otherwise turning those in their custody into productive members of society. Yes, there are programs to teach skills or education to prisoners available, but in almost all cases these are either operated by outside organizations and thus don't cost the prison any money, or completing the program lets the prison take advantage of any certification or qualification earned, generating more revenue for the prison.
  Prisons intentionally make people live in the lowest quality of life possible by law, and would reduce the conditions further to save money were there not laws to prevent that. They justify this because prisoners are being punished, even when that mentality is proven wrong time and time again, specifically in how wealthy or influential prisoners are allowed to make improvements to their own personal living conditions, rather than having to live like the general (poorer) population of the system.
  Don't ever fool yourself into thinking US prisoners care one bit about a prisoner's security or safety, they would put all the prisoners into medicated comas and hang them up on meat racks if the law allowed it and it was cheaper than shoving them in cells. As long as they get paid for every day they hold a prisoner they don't care about any other aspect that doesn't cost them money to ignore. They only care about prisoners killing other prisoners because the state won't pay them to hold a dead body.
  
  As a non American, what is the concept of for profit prisons?
- So prisons can't maintain the one thing they are there for: security.
  Oh ya? Says who? And security for who?
  If you think prisons are here to keep prisoners safe you are 100% misinformed.
  In America prisons are for-profit. Their only job is to make sure you stay there and don’t return to the public. Whether you stay safe or not isn’t a concern to them. They don’t give a fuck about your well being.
  In America prisons are designed to be cruel, not to rehabilitate.
  
  While I understand the sentiment, it is patently false.
  In America prisons are designed to be cruel, not to rehabilitate.
  This is unconstitutional and illegal, besides. Therefore the governments and the victims are well within their rights to hold the prisons accountable and liable.
- Given prisons in the US are pretty much a source of slave labour and the fact that a lot of these guards are on the take (hence drugs seemingly be freely available in practically any prison) this failure of duty seems more like business as usual.

Well, that still counts as a life sentence.

Probably couldn't stop running his mouth. Most in cell fights/stabbings etc happen due to that kinda shit.

Wow.. now that's some fucked up shit.

We owe that cellmate some congrats for doing what the justice system should have done. The fact that he wasn't executed in Texas of all states is both surprising and a damn shame.
- I'm sorry but the cellmate shouldn't have done that. We shouldn't punish based on emotion. We don't want the state to be able to murder people either.
- Reactionaries often call for extrajudicial punishment.
  You're in ~~good~~ company.

When done right, the trash takes itself out. At least this saves the taxpayer some money.
- That's kind of how I feel about war and how most people gung-ho about fighting in one are right-wing assholes.
  
  I agree with your sentiment but disagree with how it plays out in practice. There are plenty of people who serve just for the decent income and benefits. Plenty of the ones you mentioned as well though, they can take to the frontline.

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