Meridian police on Tuesday arrested Laquanda Shonta Pierce on a charge of murder in connections with the Aug. 30 fatal shooting of Raphael Robert Taylor, 27, of Meridian, Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Ward Calhoun said.

    Bond for Pierce has been set at $200,000.

    Members of the Meridian Police Department made the arrest, but calls to police spokesman Dareall Thompson were not immediately returned.

    Sheriff’s deputies on Monday arrested Lorenzo Dominque Norman, 23, of Meridian, and charged him with murder. Bond for Norman was set at $200,000. Willie Earl Taylor, 27, of Meridian, was charged with accessory after the fact and contempt of court and had a bond set at $40,000.

    Taylor was found in the middle of Earl Haney Road around 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 30 after a woman called 911 to report a man had been hit by a car. When deputies arrived, however, they discovered Taylor had been shot twice.

    Taylor died the following day at the University Medical Center in Jackson.

    Witnesses told deputies they had heard gunshots around 10 p.m. the night of the shooting and said they saw a large, dark SUV, possibly maroon in color leave the area soon after. The vehicle had blacked-out rims.

    Calhoun said a motive in the shooting was unclear, but it could have been linked to other criminal activity.