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Third murder suspect in custody
03 Murder suspect Benson Lloyd mug
Lloyd

The third suspect wanted in connection with the weekend shooting of a Woodstock man was apprehended Wednesday afternoon.

Cherokee Sheriff’s Office Investigators with the assistance of the Cobb County Police Department arrested Benson Kyle Lloyd, 28, of Jasper, while he was hitting golf balls in the PGA Tour Superstore on George Busbee Parkway in Kennesaw, according to Cherokee County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Jay Baker.

His arrest came a day after two other suspects were taken into custody in Dawson County on felony murder charges.

John Michael Taylor, 27, of Acworth, was arrested around 7 p.m., hours after he barricaded himself in a home on Harmony Church Road Tuesday, according to Dawson County Sheriff Billy Carlisle.

The standoff lasted more than three hours with officers from Dawson, Cherokee and Forsyth counties surrounding the home.

Krystle Gail Taylor, 27, of Dawsonville was also arrested at the home Tuesday afternoon.

The trio was charged Monday night in the murder of 47-year-old Christopher Pierce, who was found shot to death Sunday night inside his Woodstock home in Cherokee County.

Working with Dawson County investigators, Cherokee County detectives followed cellphone transmissions to the home, where Krystle Gail Taylor was apprehended without incident, according to Carlisle.

When John Michael Taylor would not leave the house, SWAT team members from Cherokee and Forsyth counties began negotiations.

Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison said SWAT team members were able to secretly maneuver into the home, where police used a stun gun on Taylor and apprehended him.

"Forsyth County conducted negotiations for probably three hours, at which time he broke off those negotiations," Garrison said.

It was then that negotiators successfully lured him into a position where he could be apprehended.

"[They] were able to get around a corner and take a Taser on Mr. Taylor and he was arrested without any further incident. This gets us two of these very dangerous individuals off the streets," Garrison said Tuesday night during a press conference.

Early Tuesday, Baker announced felony murder warrants had been issued for the trio, who were reportedly together and considered armed and dangerous.

Garrison said the weekend slaying was believed to be drug-related.

"The last three hours [of the standoff]...we actually watched him shoot meth while he was negotiating," Garrison said.

Officers also watched as John Michael Taylor brandished a handgun.

Garrison said the barricaded suspect's drug use escalated the danger for officers on the scene.

"He had already twice today came out and brandished a weapon, so we knew he had a weapon with him," he said.

The suspects remain in custody at the Cherokee Adult Detention Center without bond.