A Decatur man has been convicted in the DeKalb County Superior Court for the murder of a man at a local motel, a crime dating back to January 2020. The jury found Tyler Merritt, 23, guilty on Thursday, of charges that include Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony. This verdict comes after a trial that pieced together the evidence of a deadly dispute that unfolded on Wesley Chapel Road.
DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston's office provided details of the case, where police responded to reports of an injured person at the motel in the afternoon of January 26, 2020. At the scene, officers discovered 50-year-old Wayne Cunningham with fatal gunshot wounds in the motel's parking lot. Subsequent investigation revealed that the shooting took place inside a third-floor motel room, as confirmed by surveillance footage showing Cunningham entering the room with Merritt and three other individuals.
According to the DeKalb District Attorney's office, witnesses reported that an argument broke out between Cunningham and Merritt just prior to the shooting. Law enforcement's investigation led them to another hotel where Merritt was found. A search warrant executed in his room uncovered a firearm which was later matched, by GBI inspection, to a 9mm shell casing recovered from the scene of the crime.
The conclusive piece of evidence, a cigarette butt bearing Merritt's DNA, was found alongside the shell casing in the motel room. After the jury convicted Merritt, Superior Court Judge Brian Lake handed down a life sentence plus an additional five years. The prosecution team included Chief Senior Assistant District Attorney Josh Geller and Senior Assistant District Attorney Darlene Childers, with DA Investigator Tiffany Edwards and Victim Advocate Kaysha Albritton assisting, while the DeKalb County Police Department’s Det. McQuilkin spearheaded the investigation.
It was previously reported in error that Merritt had been convicted of Armed Robbery; this clarification was noted by the District Attorney's office in their official statement. Following the trial, the accurate charges and the sentence were publicly detailed, closing the chapter on a case that has lingered in the annals of DeKalb County's criminal justice system for nearly four years.
