GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Court was back in session Thursday for the second day of the murder trial involving a St. Simons Island dentist.
Suzanne Mericle is accused of shooting and killing her boyfriend, James David Barron, on March 7, 2025 in Gainesville, Georgia. During opening statements Wednesday, prosecutors claimed Mericle became ‘unhinged’ and ‘obsessed’ after learning Barron was sending money to a woman overseas, and she ‘lost it’ the night of the shooting. Mericle’s defense said she was being abused by Barron and he was violent with her the night of the shooting.
Barron was shot through the door of a bedroom in the home he and Mericle shared on Lake Lanier in Georgia. Prosecutors said Barron retreated to the bedroom the night of the shooting and locked himself inside. They claimed Mericle shot through the door of that room and the bullet went through Barron’s arm and into his chest…