Citrus County plans to honor a local man who was killed on Tuesday while serving as a Marine in Afghanistan.

Sheriff Jeff Dawsy said today that he is working on plans to honor Marine Cpl. Johnathan Taylor, 23, of Sugarmill Woods, who was killed when a nearby improvised-explosive device detonated while Taylor’s unit was on foot patrol in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Details of the tribute are still sketchy, but Dawsy said he would announce the route his office's escort would follow once it has been ironed out. Dawsy urged residents from throughout the county to show up along the to-be-announced route to show support for Taylor and his family.

Taylor will be buried in the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., but there will first be a local memorial service here.

Taylor was an infantryman assigned to 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. His parents, Mark and Deborah, live in Sugarmill Woods, and he also leaves behind brothers Christopher and Mark Jr.

Taylor was also a graduate of Lecanto Middle School and a 2006 graduate Lecanto High School. Before his military service, he was active in the Sea Cadets, Manatee Division, headquartered in Yankeetown.

At the time of his death, he was on his fourth combat tour of Afghanistan.

"This is the first time in a long time we've had a solider killed in the line of duty," Sheriff Dawsy said today. "We will be escorting him up to the memorial service with a police escort which will escort him into our county to wherever the ceremony will be." Dawsy said he encourages county residents to come out and stand by whatever route is announced, to recognize the loss to the community and the Taylor family.