Suspect in 2023 Sunnyvale shooting pleads guilty to first-degree murder

Sunnyvale man sentenced for 2023 murder case

A man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty in a 2023 murder case in Sunnyvale, the town's first in 20 years. FOX 4's Peyton Yager has more.

SUNNYVALE, Texas - The suspect in a 2023 Sunnyvale murder case has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

What we know:

Last week, 27-year-old Quantavius Gomillia pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting death of Tyesha Merritt in June 2023.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison following his conviction.

Quantavius Gomillia

Gomillia had been on the run for over a year following a shooting, ultimately being arrested at his dad's house in Mississippi in June 2024.

"I was confident we had the right guy in place to solve this," Sunnyvale police chief Bill Vegas said of Matt Fraley, a detective involved in tracking Gomillia down.

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Tyesha Merritt was killed and her brother and his three children were sitting in a car when police say the shooter walked up to the vehicle and opened fire.

Sunnyvale PD and detectives spent over a year pursuing evidence that eventually led to Gomillia's arrest.

Detectives later learned the motive was a revenge killing, saying Merritt had stolen from the suspect about a month before she was murdered.

The backstory:

The June 4, 2023 incident resulted in the death of Tyesha Merrit and injuries to four others at Riverstone Apartments in Sunnyvale.

Investigators say 27-year-old Tyesha Merritt of Mesquite was followed and targeted. 

Gas station surveillance video captured the suspect’s vehicle exiting the highway, and then the apartment complex's cameras caught Gomillia getting out of a black vehicle.

Police say a gunman wearing a mask got out of the car, walked up to her vehicle and opened fire.

Sunnyvale deadly ambush video released

There is a $25,000 reward for info that helps solve the Town of Sunnyvale's first murder in 20 years.

Merritt was hit in the torso several times. Merritt's brother and his three children, who ranged in age from 8 to 10 years old, were also injured in the shooting.

It was the Town of Sunnyvale's first murder in 20 years. For a police department only established in 2019, it was a case that took precedent.

"To say that we are immune to something like this.. that's not realistic," Chief Vegas said. "To say that he is now where he belongs we are good with that."

What they're saying:

Sunnyvale Mayor Saji George thanked those involved for their efforts in the investigation.

"I’m very proud of our officers and investigators for their pursuit of this case. I’m also grateful to our law enforcement partners, including the Mesquite and Carrollton Police Departments and the FBI," George said. "Sunnyvale rarely faces these types of situations. We can all feel safer knowing our department has the experience and resources to handle such cases."

Chief Vegas thinks the verdict was too short, but they can only control what they can control.

"If you ask me personally, I think he should be in there for the rest of his life. Murder is murder," Vegas told FOX 4's Peyton Yager. "The fact that he shot 3 kids, another adult, he should be in there for quite a while. But it's not my place to say what the prosecutors' office saw. Maybe they see it a different way."