Richard Vinson Merritt's arrest mugshot. Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office

Fugitive lawyer Richard Merritt, accused of killing his mother in February and fleeing just before he was supposed to start serving a 15-year sentence for theft, was apprehended in a Nashville thrift store Monday.

Merritt, 44, was still driving the Lexus he stole from his mother, Shirley Merritt, when he was apprehended, according to Inspector Frank Lempka with the U.S. Marshals Service Southeast Fugitive Force.

"Early last Friday morning his vehicle was recovered in Nashville," said Lempka. "We found some evidence that led us to believe he was still driving it and was frequenting the area."

Lempka said he and other marshals saw Merritt go into the Southern Thrift Store Monday afternoon and arrested him there without incident.

"I think he knew it was over," Lempka said.

He said Merritt had grown out his hair and was sporting a beard, and had apparently been working using a phony ID at a Nashville bar until a few weeks before his arrest.

"We believe he's been in Tennessee the whole time or the vast majority of the time; there's no evidence that he's been talking to or communicating with anybody in Georgia," he said.

Merritt is being held in the Davidson County Jail and is expected to face an extradition hearing tomorrow, Lempka said.

Merritt is wanted for murder in DeKalb County, where he allegedly killed his mother on Feb. 2.

There is no attorney listed for Merritt, according to Davidson County records; the Marietta attorney who represented him in the Cobb County case, David Willingham, did not respond to multiple queries.

In a statement, Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes thanked everyone involved in searching for Merritt.

"Over these many months and particularly as the situation quickly evolved over the weekend, members of the Cobb District Attorney's Office were integral in supporting the U.S. Marshals task force," said Holmes. "I am also extremely thankful that no officers were injured while taking Mr. Merritt into custody in Tennessee."

Merritt's 77-year-old mother was found by Merritt's cousin, stabbed to death at her Stone Mountain home on Feb. 2.

He was supposed to report to the Cobb County jail the day before, after pleading guilty in January to 34 felony counts, including theft, forgery and exploitation of an elderly person.

Cobb Superior Court Judge Robert Flournoy III sentenced Merritt to serve 15 years in prison and another 15 on probation, and to pay $454,706 in restitution. He was disbarred last year after admitting to stealing $75,000 in settlement funds meant for a client.

Flournoy allowed Merritt to remain free to get his affairs in order, requiring that he be fitted with an ankle monitor.

According to the DeKalb County police report, Merritt's cousin, Michael Jefcoat, drove from Alabama to take Merritt to jail when he learned Merritt had cut off his ankle monitor.

Jefcoat told the officer that he spoke to Merritt's mother, Shirley Merritt, the morning she died, and that she said, "everything was fine and that she was talking with Richard about turning himself in."

Jefcoat let himself into Shirley Merritt's house later that day using a key he got from his cousin's ex-wife, who met him at the entrance to the neighborhood.

The report said the investigating officer found two plates on the dinner table and two steak knives missing from a kitchen knife block, matching the broken-off knife handle found near Shirley Merritt's body.

There was no sign of struggle, the report said.