Billy Chemirmir, a Kenyan immigrant charged with killing 18 people in the USA will not face the death penalty.
According to Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot, explained that seeking the death penalty could take time as both the defense and prosecution will have to travel to Kenya to learn more about Chemirmir's past mental history.
This would involve looking for potential witnesses and records about Chemirmir, who is under police custody. He also expressed uncertainty in accessing the country due to the prevalence of Covid-19.
Creuzot is hopeful to secure life imprisonment without parole so that the alleged serial killer would pay for his crimes on American soil. Should Chimirmir be released, he would be deported to Kenya.
“In effect, there will be no chance for Mr. Chemirmir to die anywhere except in a Texas prison,” the DA’s office said.
Chemirmir faces 13 counts of capital murder in Dallas County. In Collin County, he faces five counts of capital murder, as well as two counts of attempted capital murder.
In Kenya, the criminal justice system recommends for a suspect to undergo a psychiatric test to ensure a suspect has the capacity to plead to murder charges.
However, under the Criminal Procedure Code, CPC, this is not mandatory and is only viable in all High Courts handling murder cases.
A suspect declared insane, according to the law, cannot take a plea in court hence cannot be tried in court. Nonetheless, they will be committed to a mental facility.
In April, a court reversed its earlier declaration on Lawrence Warunge, a suspect facing multiple murder charges. This came after a psychiatric report from Mathare Hospital revealed that the 22-year-old was mentally fit to stand trial.
On June 28, the High Court in Kiambu ordered the main suspect in the murder of Jennifer Wambua, to be subjected to a mental assessment to check whether he was fit to stand trial.
The court had initially ruled Warunge unfit in January with the prosecution stating that he was on medication for mental illness. Warunge was accused of killing 4 family members and a farm attendant in January.
In October 2019, Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa was subjected to a psychiatric evaluation in relation to a murder the legislator allegedly orchestrated.
