In the early morning hours of August 30, 2018, the body of 26-year-old Yuritza Cerda was discovered lying in the 1400 block of Frontier Drive in Conyers, Georgia. Initially, Rockdale County Sheriff's deputies responded to a call at approximately 6:20 a.m. about a person being hit by a vehicle. However, upon their arrival, investigators found that Cerda had sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the head and the coroner pronounced her dead at the scene.
The investigation into the death of the young woman quickly progressed, and within two days, a suspect was identified and apprehended. On September 1, 2018, Trinity Wayne Bussler was arrested in connection with Cerda's death. Authorities located him hiding inside a residence off Old Covington Highway in neighboring DeKalb County and took him into custody without incident. The relationship between Cerda and Bussler was not immediately made public as the investigation continued.
Following his arrest, Bussler was charged with murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of certain felonies, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. His arrest came just a few months after his release from Hays State Prison in May 2018. He had been serving a 20-year sentence for burglary, criminal trespass, theft by taking, and false imprisonment committed in Rockdale County between 2010 and 2011. While incarcerated and awaiting trial for Cerda's murder, Bussler was also accused of another murder, this time in the killing of a fellow inmate at Baldwin State Prison in June 2019.
