DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — A disbarred Georgia attorney is accused of stabbing his mother to death in DeKalb County.
News outlets report DeKalb County police announced this weekend that 44-year-old Richard Merritt was sought on charges including murder.
Merritt admitted last month to settling some of his clients' lawsuits without telling them and pocketing the settlements, using the money on items including vacations.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but awarded time to "get his affairs in order" before starting his sentence on Feb. 1. He didn't surrender to authorities then and has removed his ankle monitor.
A police report says officers responded Saturday to a report of a dead person and found Shirley Merritt dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs near what appeared to be a knife handle.
