A death investigation in Hernando County is now a murder case, Sheriff Al Nienhuis said Wednesday, and four suspects are in custody.
- Four charged with first-degree murder
- Preston Talley's body found Sunday morning
- Talley was slain, robbed of $20
Nienhuis said Preston Talley of Gainesville was ambushed in the woods in the eastern part of the county Saturday night.
His body was found Sunday morning inside a vehicle.
Nienhuis said four people beat Talley to death and robbed him. They took $20 and some drugs, the sheriff said.
"Our information is the minute he got out of the vehicle, one of the suspects began to hit him with a bat," Nienhuis said. "(The culprits) beat him viciously in the head to the point where he was obviously deceased."
Nienhuis said the incident started on a dating website and that Talley was lured into the woods.
The suspects were identified as Kayla Ja'Nae Morrow, 25; Joshua Dewayne Gardner, 24; Andrew Christopher Abbott, 19; and Brandon Joe Harrelson, 24.
They were charged with first-degree murder.