2nd murder warrant issued for accused killer of 2 Ga. deputies

BYRON, Ga. -- Authorities say a second murder warrant has been issued in the deaths of two Georgia sheriff’s deputies.

J.T. Ricketson of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation says 57-year-old Ralph Elrod remains under 24-hour armed guard at a hospital in Macon.

Ricketson tells The Macon Telegraph a second murder warrant was issued for Elrod after Peach County Deputy Daryl Smallwood died last week, days after Sgt. Patrick Sondron’s death.

Authorities served the first warrant while Elrod was hospitalized, but are awaiting his release to serve the second warrant.

The deputies were shot Nov. 6 while approaching Elrod’s home in Byron. They were responding to a report that Elrod used a rifle to threaten two young men who were riding a motorcycle and a four-wheeler near his property.