GAINESVILE, Ga. – The murder trial of a Gainesville, Georgia woman accused of fatally shooting her boyfriend inside their home in March 2025 began on Wednesday.
Deputies say Suzanne Mericle shot 68-year-old James Barron with a handgun inside their home on Bayridge Drive off C. Rogers Road.
Recommended Videos
Hall County deputies said they responded to the home around 1:15 a.m. and found Barron unresponsive in a bedroom, with a gunshot wound to his torso. Deputies said Mericle was at the home when they arrived.
First responders transported Barron to a nearby hospital where he died, according to the sheriff’s office.
Mericle owned a dentistry office, Mericle Dentistry, in St. Simons Island.
A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Barron’s sons accuses Mericle of shooting Barron through the locked bedroom door during an argument.
Last month, the judge denied a motion by Mericle to exclude cell phone and Facebook records from being used at trial, stating both warrants satisfied the requirements for probable cause.
Mericle is charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.