The search for David Matthew Merrill ended on Friday afternoon after he was discovered inside a Euless motel with a self inflicted gunshot wound.
According to Lt. W. Pavlik, when offices arrived at the motel in the 2500 block of West Euless Boulevard, they found Merrill with a gunshot wound to the head. Merrill was transported to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth where he was pronounced dead early Saturday morning.
According to the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office, Euless police were able to determine the gunshot victim was Merrill through fingerprints which were taken after he arrived at the hospital and confirmed an outstanding Tarrant County warrant.
Merrill had been on the run since Wednesday after fleeing the probation office at the Tarrant County Courthouse into Downtown Fort Worth.
The Tarrant County Sheriff's Department said 36-year-old David Matthew Merrill, was accused of killing 56-year-old Rudy Mata last year. He was out on bond awaiting the murder trial.
In Sept. 2012, Merrill was arrested and charged with the murder of Mata at an Arlington apartment complex. Arlington investigators said Merrill shot Mata several times. Police said Mata, a local musician, went to his son-in-law's apartment to mediate a family dispute over money when he was killed.
To satisfy the conditions of his bond, Merrill was meeting with the probation department to take a drug test. Officials said Merrill failed the test and, before deputies could take him back into custody for violating the bond, he ran.
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Officials said Merrill ran toward the Tarrant County College's Trinity River East campus, which was briefly placed on lock down, but sheriff’s officials said Wednesday afternoon that Merrill was never actually on the campus. It’s not clear how he escaped the area.
