Tyrell Lamont Samuel, 26, of Saluda, was convicted of murder in the first degree, among other felony charges, after a three-day jury trial in Gloucester County Circuit Court that ended Friday afternoon.

The charges stem from a home invasion that took place during the early morning hours of Aug. 15, 2022, leaving 18-year-old Skyler Ann Merenda dead and her boyfriend, Ramel Wilson, who was 20 at the time, injured. The shooting occurred at the 4300 block of Bufflehead Drive. Samuel was indicted on May 1, 2023 for charges related to the home invasion and murder.

Four couples were present in the home during the Aug. 15 shooting. Scarlett Elmore, whose family owned the home, and Deandre “Malik” Waller stayed in the primary bedroom; Darius Rudd and Hope Sullivan shared a bedroom; Caitlin Pickett had her own bedroom, where Dracey Greenwood would sometimes stay; and Merenda and Wilson were sleeping temporarily in the great, or back, room.

The great room had a sliding glass door that opened onto the yard, the entrance which the shooter used to gain access into the home.

In opening statements, Mathews County Commonwealth’s Attorney Marie Walls, who served on the prosecution team for the Gloucester Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, played an audio recording that was taken during the time of the shooting. In it, gunshots can be heard with a voice saying, “it’s Rell.” Several witnesses would later testify that they knew the defendant by the nickname, “Rell.” The voice was later identified as being Wilson’s after he was shot.

“Darkness, danger and death,” said Walls. “That’s what you just heard.”

Hampton attorney C. Carter Allen, who represented Samuel, claimed the voice in the recording was saying, “help,” not, “it’s Rell.”

Taylor Walke was the first of the commonwealth’s testifiers to take the stand. In July 2022, Walke was dating Samuel’s brother, Keante “Taay” Bobo, when Bobo lost his life to suicide at the Bufflehead house.

Samuel had visited the house with Bobo several times. Walke was a resident of the house during this time and slept in the great room.

On one of Samuel’s visits to the home, Walke said she saw Waller provide Samuel with ammunition in Elmore and Waller’s bedroom. Samuel placed the loose cartridges in a sock and placed the sock in his pocket. Walke said she would always see Samuel with a gun, with the exception of when in his mother’s house.

After Bobo’s death, Walke said Samuel threatened to shoot her and she soon moved out of the Bufflehead house. Samuel did not hang out at the house with its residents after his brother’s suicide, Walke said.

The commonwealth noted during the trial that Walke and Meranda shared similar physical features during August 2021, including dirty blonde hair and being of Caucasian ethnicity.

The defense argued that Walke never saw Samuel fire a gun before, so she cannot be sure his firearm was operational. The firearm used in the shootings of Merenda and Wilson was never recovered.

Elmore testified that she awoke to screams and gunshots on Aug. 15 in the primary bedroom. Waller was also in the room with her. Wilson ran in with a gunshot wound to the upper part of his leg. She tied a tourniquet around the injury to stop the bleeding with a bed sheet. Wilson told Elmore and Waller that Rell had been the one to shoot him.

The camera in Rudd and Sullivan’s room captured the gunshots and screams, as well as the 911 call Rudd made that night. Sullivan heard Wilson shout, “it’s Rell.”

Pickett, another resident of the house, said she posted on her Instagram story her condolences for Bobo after his death. Samuel then sent her threatening messages. Pickett testified she also heard Wilson say, “it’s Rell,” at the time of the shooting.

During the trial, Wilson said he had just let the dog exit the house through the sliding glass door of the great room when a man wearing a gray hoodie (hood up) and a surgical mask (one commonly seen during the COVID-19 pandemic) entered through the door. He saw the man from 10-15 feet away, but recognized Samuel from his braids and eyes. The two had been friends for about a year at that point.

Wilson started running towards the primary bedroom and was shot. After nearly two years, Wilson said he still deals with pain, cramping and swelling in his leg from the injury and also bears a scar from it.

Merenda was found with five gunshot wounds, including a graze. Cartridges were found in the house, some of which were determined to contain Samuel’s DNA.

Samuel took to the stand to say that he did not visit the residence the night of the shooting, nor did he take part in the shooting.

Several residents of the house identified Samuel as the shooter early in the investigation. None of the residents returned to live in the house following the shootings.

In his closing arguments, Gloucester Commonwealth’s Attorney John Dusewicz said Merenda’s death “looked like an execution.”

“That was a bullet meant for Taylor Walke,” said Dusewicz.

In the defense’s closing arguments, Allen said that the victims of the shooting do deserve justice. However, he said, “justice does not come by convicting the wrong person.”

Allen then questioned Wilson’s ability to identify the defendant due to fatigue and medication he was taking.

“Nobody knew who it [the shooter] was until everybody knew who it was,” said Allen, citing that witnesses did not identify the shooter to law enforcement the night of the shooting.

In addition to the first-degree murder conviction, Samuel was also found guilty of two counts of shoot/stab in the commission of a felony; use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, first offense; two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, second offense; malicious wounding; and burglary while armed. He was found not guilty of attempted murder in the first degree and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, second offense.

The trial was presided over by Judge Jeffrey W. Shaw. The jury took about five and a half hours to come to a verdict, returning to court to reach the verdict at 3:50 p.m.

Samuel is scheduled to be sentenced the afternoon of Nov. 12, where he faces the possibility of life imprisonment.