By Staff
Staff Reports
The Washington Police Department has charged Gary Curtis Upton Jr. of 118 Lilley Road with murder in the death of his father, Gary Curtis Upton Sr.
Police had previously charged the younger Upton with felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury after an incident that occurred Monday evening.
On Tuesday, it was announced the father was in critical condition at Pitt County Memorial Hospital and his injuries were “life threatening.”
Gary Upton Sr. died Wednesday night, police said, and few further details were immediately available Thursday.
Police were still “in the middle” of an investigation into the incident, related Lt. William Chrismon.
“It was a family dispute situation involving him and his son,” Chrismon said.
The son had been placed in the Beaufort County Detention Center under a $100,000 bond pending a court appearance Thursday.
According to the Beaufort County clerk of court’s office, Upton Jr. appeared in court Thursday and had been assigned an attorney for the previous charge. Through the state court system’s Office of Indigent Defense Services, he will now be assigned a different attorney to deal with the murder charge, the clerk’s office reported.
Upton was transferred from the county jail to an N.C. Department of Correction facility in Raleigh for “safekeeping,” though the reason for this move was unknown.
Prisoners may be sent to “safekeeping” for reasons ranging from medical needs to behavioral problems, the clerk’s office related.