Deputies from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call for service at a home at 610 Timber Bay Circle W in Oldsmar after getting reports of a man getting beaten with a baseball bat.
The incident occurred shortly before 2:30 p.m. on Friday, November 18, 2022.
When deputies arrived on scene, they discovered the victim, later identified as 52 year-old Bryan Merriam, laying face down on the ground suffering from apparent head trauma. Merriam was pronounced dead at the scene.
Throughout the course of the investigation, detectives learned 50 year-old Ramon Hernandez arrived at Merriam’s residence and exited his vehicle with a metal baseball bat. Hernandez then approached Merriam, looking for his girlfriend who he believed was hiding there. Detectives say Hernandez struck Merriam in the back of the head with the bat. After Merriam fell to the ground, Hernandez proceeded to strike Merriam several more times with the bat before fleeing the scene leaving the bat at the scene.
Approximately an hour later, Hernandez turned himself in to deputies at the Pinellas County Justice Center located at 14250 49th Street North and was taken into custody. Detectives interviewed Hernandez, who admitted to striking Merriam the first time out of self-defense, and multiple times after that out of anger. Hernandez sustained no injuries.
Hernandez was charged with Murder in the First Degree and booked into the
Pinellas County Jail.
Additional information will be posted when released by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
This is not believed to be a random act of violence.