In the late hours of a Tuesday night in Aiken, South Carolina, the sound of gunfire pierced the air, leading to a grim discovery. On May 3, 2022, officers from the Aiken Department of Public Safety were drawn to the intersection of Hampton Avenue and Assembly Street. There they found a Nissan sedan, and inside, the body of 49-year-old Charles L. Bradley. He had been shot at least once and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The discovery was made after police responded to reports of gunfire in the area of Hampton Avenue and Laurens Street around 11:05 p.m. This was one of three shooting incidents reported in the vicinity that night, though the others only resulted in property damage.
The investigation into the death of Charles Bradley, a father of six sons and one daughter, stretched on for a year. Law enforcement's persistence paid off, leading to the identification of two suspects. Javon Croft, 24, was the first to be taken into custody in the summer following the shooting. The second suspect, 34-year-old Freddie Lee Simpkins, a man described as a repeat offender, was apprehended on the one-year anniversary of Bradley's death. Officers found Simpkins on the front porch of a residence in North Augusta and, after a brief foot chase, took him into custody.
Both Simpkins and Croft were charged in connection with the killing of Charles Bradley. At the time of the murder, Simpkins already had outstanding warrants from 2020 for dealing cocaine, Ecstasy, and marijuana. He was also linked to another shooting that occurred just the weekend before Bradley's death, which led to charges of attempted murder. Following his capture, Simpkins faced charges of murder and possession of a firearm for the death of Charles Bradley. The apprehension of both suspects was the result of a collaborative effort involving the Aiken Department of Public Safety, the ATF RAGE Unit Task Force, the Aiken County Sheriff's Office, and the North Augusta Department of Public Safety.
