Suzanne Renee Mericle, a 61-year-old dentist from Georgia, has been charged with felony murder after allegedly shooting and killing her partner, 68-year-old James David Barron, on March 8. Hall County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the home in Gainesville at 1:15 a.m. and found Barron unresponsive in the bedroom. He was later pronounced dead at Northeast Georgia Medical Center from a gunshot wound to the torso.
Mericle, who owns Mericle Dentistry in St. Simons Island, was arrested and charged with felony murder, as well as possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. According to Hall County property records, Mericle and Barron had purchased their $1.5 million home in October 2024. She is being held without bond at the Hall County jail.
