Lawyer Accused of Mom's Murder Trial - GA v. Richard Merritt
Merritt is on trial for murdering his 77-year-old mother,
#ShirleyMerritt, the day he was suppose to report for prison.
#MichaelJefcoat, the cousin of accused killer
#RichardMerritt, testified Thursday about how the defendant's mother reacted to her son being charged with financial crimes related to his job as a personal injury attorney. "It broke her heart," Jefcoat said.
Merritt stands accused of murdering his mother before fleeing the state of Georgia and starting a new life under an alias in Tennessee.
“He used a kitchen knife to stab her multiple times in the back, in the chest, throat, and the face,” Pott said. “Then he picked up a 35-pound dumbbell, which he held above her head and bludgeoned her with it.”
Fugitive lawyer
#RichardMerritt’s murder trial kicked off with opening statements Thursday. Prosecutor Helen Pott detailed the alleged attack 77-year-old
#ShirleyMerritt suffered at the hands of her son Richard in February 2019.
Investigators believe Richard stabbed and bludgeoned his mother to death before taking off to Tennessee.
The cousin of accused mother killer Richard Merritt recalled the moment he found the body of 77-year-old
#ShirleyMerritt, his aunt, saying he knew it was a crime scene and "backed out.”
The state alleges Richard brutally attacked and killed his mom before fleeing to Tennessee in February 2019.
