Man calls 37 times while woman asks officer for relief from phone harassment

A Jackson man has been charged with aggravated stalking and harassing communications after making unrelenting calls to a Fayetteville woman. That number included 37 calls to the woman while she was meeting with an officer.

Devin Lamar Merritt, 27, was charged with harassing communications and aggravated stalking, according to Fayetteville Police Department spokesperson Ann Marie Burdett.

Burdett said police initially met with the complainant to take the report of the alleged domestic incident.

“Police met with the complainant, who said her ex-boyfriend and father of her child had repeatedly been calling her telephone. The complainant gave the officer her phone and asked the officer to view her call log to observe where the subject had called her over 87 times, beginning on Sept. 2 at 9:15 p.m. and ending on Sept. 3 at 12:58 p.m.” Burdett said.

The complainant also provided the officer with a voicemail recording of Merritt where he referenced the complainant and called her derogatory names, Burdett added.

Burdett noted that while the complainant was with the officer, Merritt telephoned the complainant 37 times from a blocked telephone number.

“On one occasion, the officer answered the call, and the subject answered the telephone. The officer recognized the subject’s voice from the voicemail recording,” said Burdett. “The complainant told police the Fayette County Jail told the subject he had a special condition to his bond, which was not to have any contact with her to include via telephone.”

Burdett said the officer obtained a copy of the special bond conditions indicating the subject identified as Devin L. Merritt gave a “verbal understanding at video bond.”

Burdett said criminal warrants were sought and obtained for Merritt for the offenses of aggravated stalking and harassing communications.