Sunnyvale shooting death suspect arrested in Mississippi one year after killing

A suspect in the June 2023 murder of a Mesquite woman has been arrested, Sunnyvale police announced Friday.

Quantavius ​​Gomillia, 27, was arrested in Mississippi this week and transported to Dallas County on Thursday, the department said in a Facebook post. Gomillia was booked into the Dallas County Jail and faces a murder charge for the death of 27-year-old Tyesha Merritt. Sunnyvale police said additional charges are pending in connection with injuries suffered by four other people in the shooting, including three children.

On June 4, 2023, at approximately 6:00 p.m., a shooting was reported at a residential complex in the 200 block of Planters Road. Merritt was killed while her brother and three children suffered non-life threatening injuries.

In a video released shortly after the killing, a car can be seen approaching a townhouse before a man jumps out the passenger door and fires several shots. The man gets back into the car as it drives away, while another man in a white shirt, identified as Merritt's brother, is seen fleeing the scene.

Police said at the time the video was released that a second suspect was driving the car. Sunnyvale Police Chief Bill Vegas said in an email Friday that the investigation is ongoing and police are still searching for the second suspect.

Police did not say in the Facebook post how they linked Gomillia to the shooting, or what the possible motive was. Vegas thanked his department's investigative team for pursuing the case, and also thanked the Carrollton and Mesquite police departments for their assistance, in addition to the FBI.

Gomillia remained in jail Friday on $500,000 bail. It is not yet known whether he has a lawyer.