AIKEN, S.C. (WJBF) – A second arrest has been made in a May 2022 murder case in Aiken.
Aiken Public Safety has charged 34-year-old Freddie Lee Simpkins of North Augusta in the murder of 49-year-old Charles L. Bradley.
On May 3, 2022, officers were called to the area of Hampton Avenue in reference to shots being fired in the area, just after 11 p.m.
Upon arrival, officers found a Nissan Versa stopped on Hampton Avenue at Assembly Street.
The driver, Charles Bradley, was unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene from an apparent gunshot wound.
Today, May 3, 2023, Aiken Public Safety officers on patrol located Simpkins on the front porch of a home in North Augusta, near the intersection of Carolina Springs Drive and Allway Drive.
Simpkins then reportedly fled on foot, and brief chase occurred. He was taken into custody without further incident.
Simpkins is currently held at Aiken County Detention Center charged with Murder,
and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Violent Crime, and other charges.
On June 1, 2022, officers arrested 24-year-old Javon Croft of Aiken in connection to the murder of Bradley.
Croft was charged with Murder, Kidnapping, Possession of a Weapon during the Commission of a Violent Crime (2 counts), and Armed Robbery.
