US man arrested for murdering coworker for 'long lunch breaks'

A Texas man has been arrested for allegedly murdering a coworker he was obsessed with, citing her frequent breaks as the reason behind his actions. The incident occurred at an Allegiance Trucks office in Lewisville, about 30 miles north of Dallas.

Travis Merrill, 51, was taken into custody for reportedly shooting and killing his coworker, Tamhara Collazo, at her desk on Thursday. Police stated that Merrill opened fire after Collazo returned from a lunch break. She was transported to a hospital but succumbed to her injuries.

"She re-entered after lunch, he followed her inside to her cubicle and ‘ambushed’ her, firing the gun several times," FOX 4 Dallas reported.


Court documents revealed that Merrill had confessed to being "obsessed" with Collazo, fixating on the breaks she took. Merrill had kept detailed records of the days and durations of her breaks. The documents noted, "[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."

Collazo had reported Merrill's concerning behavior to the company's human resources department. Following this, Merrill was asked to seek counseling before returning to work.

Merrill told police that he was angered by Collazo avoiding him after the report. He admitted to purchasing firearms and acknowledged bringing guns to work on multiple occasions. Merrill claimed he aimed to make Collazo feel the pain she had caused him and planned the attack to occur at the workplace with witnesses present.

Allegiance Trucks expressed devastation over the incident and announced the Lewisville office's closure following the shooting. The company stated, “We are also working closely with law enforcement during their ongoing investigation."

This incident is under investigation as authorities continue to gather more information.