• On April 2022, in the second trial, Chemirmir was convicted with the capital murder of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris.
• Prosecutors explained that on the morning of January 30,2018, Chemirmir waited for his victim at the handicapped space of the lot.
Image: /COURTESY
The Dallas County prosecutors on Monday narrated how a Kenyan-born man Billy Chemirmir hunted his victims at Walmart parking lots.
Chemirmir is charged with 22 capital murders in Dallas and Collin counties.
According to the Dallas Morning News, the prosecutors sought to prove to the juror that Chemirmir followed his victims from a Far North Dallas Walmart to their homes and kill them by throttling.
He would then steal their heirlooms.
The Monday trial is the third, after the first ended in a mistrial in 2021.
Then, the jury could not reach a verdict.
On April 2022, in the second trial, Chemirmir was convicted with the capital murder of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris.
Prosecutors explained how on the morning of January 30,2018, Chemirmir waited for his victim at the handicapped space of the lot.
The court was shown a CCTV footage from the Walmart at the corner of Coit and Arapaho roads, where 87-year-old Mary Brooks, one of Chemirmir's suspected victim, parked in a handicapped spot about 10:50 am.
Nearly an hour later, she carted her groceries out and drove out of the parking lot, followed by a silver Nissan Altima.
"If you hang on with me throughout this week , you will understand in your deliberations that there's only one true answer to this question: Is he guilty of capital murder?" prosecutor Glen Fitzmartin said.
"Your answer will be overwhelmingly Yes."
The footage shows that Chemirmir arrived at the lot an hour before Brooks.
He is seen entering and exiting the store severally before Brooks exits.
She was in the same blue coat and red scarf she wore when she died.
Brooks' oldest daughter, Ann Brooks, testified that it was unusual when her mother did not answer her phone calls on January 30.
Ann said her mother spoke with her daughters on a daily basis.
She however did not worry at first as she figured her mother was with her book club or visiting other friends.
Ann added that on the day, her mother planned to buy baby clothes to make packages for new mothers at Parkland Memorial Hospital, where she was a former assistant head of dietetics.
She said she became concerned about her mother's silence on the evening of January 31.
This prompted her to call her son, who lived with his grandmother in Richardson as she was in California at the time.
The Court was told that Brooks owned her condo and her grandson's, David Cuddihee .
She bought the homes after selling the family house following her husband’s death in 2007.
Cuddihee testified that he enjoyed living close to his grandmother.
He said she and his wife got along well, and they often had dinner together at each other’s homes. But she had a rule against surprise visits.
Cuddihee pointed out he was when his mother insisted he check on his grandmother at about 10 pm.
He said there were suspicious signs when he approached the home, adding that a small gate Brooks usually closed around dinnertime was open.
He added that the light from her office was still on and her front door was unlocked.
Upon entering into the house, he found his grandmother lying on the living room floor.
He called 911 and first responders confirmed she was dead.
Cuddihee said he then notified Ann who boarded an overnight flight to Dallas.
Brooks' death was considered natural until the Richardson police noticed the unpacked Walmart bags all over the house.
There was a box of frozen blueberry waffles on the stovetop and a carton of eggs was on the kitchen counter.
On her bed were two Walmart receipts from the day before.
Ann said they discovered that there was jewelry missing, as they were clearing out the condo.
They included Mary's wedding ring and her mother's too and a special coral necklace.
Ann said the necklace, a two-tone pink coral necklace with gold between the beads was bought by her father, Quentin Brooks during a visit in Hawaii.
Two months later, the Richardson police suspected Brooks had been murdered.
The prosecutors plan to tell narrate of other victims, to help the juror understand how police came to suspect Brook was murdered.
They will use three other women including Martha Williams, who was killed on March 4, 2018, in Preston Place Retirement Community; Mary Bartel, who survived an attack on March 19, 2018, at Preston Place Retirement Community and Harris, who was murdered on March 20, 2018, in her Dallas home.
During the trial for Harris's murder, Juror heard that the police discovered Walmart CCTV footage showing Harris and Chemirmir in the same parking lot on the day she died.
Prosecutors argued the same, that Chemirmir appeared to have followed Harris out of the lot, just like they said he followed Brooks.
Fitzmartin said the previous juries did not hear William's testimony as critical evidence was discovered in her home and car.
He added that Williams' daughter found a pillow in her home with an odd stain, blue surgical-type gloves in the glove compartment in her car.
"Chemirmir’s DNA could not be excluded from the analysis on those items. After he leaves Martha Williams, he also leaves a piece of him behind," Fitzmartin said.
The trial is expected to last for a week.
If convicted, Chemirmir will face another life sentence since the prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.
Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot promised the victims' families that prosecutors would try Chemirmir in two deaths.
Collin County prosecutors said they will wait on the Dallas cases before proceeding.
The family members expressed hope in that Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis chooses a death sentence.