Decatur man sentenced to life in prison for motel murder in 2020

DECATUR, Ga. - A Decatur man has been sentenced to life plus five years after being convicted of murdering a man during a dispute at a motel in January 2020.

A jury found Tyler Merritt, 23, guilty on Thursday of Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Armed Robbery, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony. The verdict follows the death of Wayne Cunningham, 50, who was shot and killed at a motel on Wesley Chapel Road.

According to the investigation, DeKalb County Police responded to a report of an injured person at the motel shortly before 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 26, 2020. Officers found Cunningham lying in the parking lot with two gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Surveillance footage revealed that Cunningham had entered a third-floor motel room with Merritt and three others around 3:30 p.m. Approximately 30 minutes later, Cunningham was seen leaving the room in distress before collapsing in the parking lot. Moments later, several individuals left the room, covering their faces, and drove away in a stolen car.

Witnesses reported that Cunningham and Merritt had been arguing shortly before the shooting. Crime scene investigators recovered a 9mm shell casing from the motel room and a cigarette butt containing Merritt’s DNA.

Merritt was located at another nearby hotel. During a search of his room, officers recovered a firearm. Testing by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) confirmed that the gun matched the shell casing found at the crime scene.

DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Brian Lake, who presided over the trial, sentenced Merritt to life plus five years immediately following the jury’s verdict.

The case was prosecuted by Chief Senior Assistant District Attorney Josh Geller, with support from Senior Assistant District Attorney Darlene Childers, District Attorney Investigator Tiffany Edwards, and Victim Advocate Kaysha Albritton. The initial investigation was led by DeKalb County Police Detective McQuilkin.