A Denton County jury on Thursday convicted 55-year-old Michael Tooley of murdering Dylan Gurley in July 2024 and sentenced him to life in prison, wrapping up a closely watched trial in Denton County.
According to a post by the City of Denton Police Department, jurors found Tooley guilty and a judge imposed the life term. The department noted that Denton County District Attorney investigator Rick Duggan worked the case, Assistant District Attorneys Michelle Dobson and Sarah Seaborne presented the state's case, and victim liaison Alexandria Van Der Stuyf assisted. Denton police investigators worked alongside the Denton County District Attorney's Office.
How the case unfolded
Officers were dispatched at about 11:10 p.m. on July 23, 2024, to an abandoned home in the 3700 block of Holland Lane, where Gurley was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead, according to a news release from the Denton Police Department. The Dallas Morning News reported that the Tarrant County medical examiner later ruled Gurley's cause of death as blunt and sharp-force injuries with strangulation. Detectives obtained a murder warrant for Tooley after reviewing jail phone calls and other evidence that investigators said tied him to the scene, according to the Denton police news release.
Prosecution and evidence
Prosecutors told jurors they relied on witness testimony, the timeline at the Holland Lane property, and recorded jail calls to build their case against Tooley, the department wrote in its Denton Police Department Facebook post. The post credited Denton County DA investigator Rick Duggan and said ADAs Michelle Dobson and Sarah Seaborne presented the state's case, with victim liaison Alexandria Van Der Stuyf assisting the prosecution. Jurors returned a guilty verdict and the judge imposed a life sentence in Denton County.
Local context
Hoodline first covered Tooley's arrest in August 2024 after the Denton Police Department charged him in Gurley's July death; see our earlier coverage of Tooley's arrest. The conviction closes the criminal case at the trial level.
