DECATUR, Ga. — A DeKalb County man has been convicted of murdering a man outside of a Decatur motel.
On Thursday, jurors found 23-year-old Tyler Merritt guilty on charges of malice murder, felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, stemming from a January 26, 2020 shooting.
DeKalb County Police responded to a person injured call at a motel in the 2500 block of Wesley Chapel Road in unincorporated Decatur around 4:30 p.m. that afternoon.
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When police arrived, they found the victim, 50-year-old Wayne Cunningham lying in the parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds.
Police say he died on scene.
The investigation showed both Merritt and Cunningham walk into a hotel room on the third floor around 3:30 p.m., along with three additional people.
Shortly after, Cunningham could be seen leaving the room before collapsing in the parking lot. The group of people who entered with Merritt and Cunningham left the room, covered their faces and got into a stolen car and left the scene.
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According to witnesses, Merritt and Cunningham argued before the shooting.
While processing the scene, police found a 9mm shell casing from the motel room and a cigarette butt with Merritt’s DNA on it. The next day, Merritt was found at a nearby hotel where a gun was recovered. Testing of the gun matched the 9mm casing found at the murder scene.
Merritt was found guilty and sentenced to life, plus five years.
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