A man described as "obsessed" by Texas authorities allegedly shot and killed her coworker, Tamhara Collazo, on Thursday, October 17. Travis Merrill, 51, worked alongside his victim at an Allegiance Trucks office in Lewisville, Denton County. Allegedly, Merrill shot Collazo after she returned from her work break.
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According to court documents obtained by FOX 4, Merrill's obsession with Collazo extended to him keeping track of her every move. He kept a record of how many breaks she took and for how long.
"[Merrill said he] was obsessed with Collazo and began getting ever increasingly angry by her taking what he considered to be unauthorized long breaks during work hours, as well as not paying any attention to him," the document reads.
Despite Collazo reporting Merrill to the company's human resources department, his obsession continued. Unfortunately, it all ended up in a fatal incident.
A Violent Obsession
On Thursday, Collazo took her lunch break like she normally would. Merrill followed her to the parking lot and then retrieved two revolvers from his car. Moments later, after Collazo returned to work, Merrill followed her to her desk. "As she re-entered after lunch, he followed her inside to her cubicle and 'ambushed' her, firing the gun several times," reads an affidavit.
Allegedly, Merrill shot Collazo a total of five times, with multiple people witnessing the murder. Once police arrived, he immediately turned himself in. He later told police that the victim "had caused him pain, and he wanted her to feel pain, so he intentionally planned to shoot her at work with everyone there."
Shook by Collazo's murder, Allegiance Trucks issued a statement to FOX 4. "The company is providing support to the victim's family and the rest of our employees who, thankfully, were unharmed, and we have closed our Lewisville office indefinitely," reads the statement. "We are also working closely with law enforcement during their ongoing investigation."
"We ask for the community's support as our company has unfortunately joined the growing national community of workplaces affected by gun violence."
Police charged Merrill with murder and is held at the Denton County Jail on a $10 million bond.
