FIRST ON 3: Bladen man charged with murder after shooting victim dies

BLADEN COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A Bladen County man is now charged with murder after a man he allegedly shot earlier this week died.

The Bladen County Sheriff’s Office says Charles Bernard Stephens, 51, of Whiteville, died Wednesday afternoon as a result of a gunshot wound to the head Monday night.

Deputies arrested Jesse Earl Simpson, 49, of Clarkton for the shooting. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill and inflicting serious injury. Investigators upgraded his charges to murder after Stephens’s death.