NEW ORLEANS – A Baton Rouge man wanted for a fatal beating on St. Charles Avenue earlier this month is back behind bars this morning.

Twenty-five-year-old Garrett James Ward was initially arrested for second degree battery after a January 6 incident left Arnold Jackson seriously injured.

Witnesses told responding officers that Ward had punched and kicked Jackson several times on the corner of St. Charles and Josephine Street before fleeing to the top level of a nearby parking garage.

When the officers located Ward, they found him to be “highly intoxicated,” according to the NOPD.

Ward was arrested on the scene for battery, and Jackson was transported to a local hospital for treatment, where he later died as a result of his injuries on January 18.

Ward was released on the second degree battery charges after an initial court appearance, according to the NOPD.

The NOPD upgraded the charges against Ward from second degree battery to second degree murder after Jackson died.

Ward turned himself in to NOPD homicide detectives this morning, and he was booked into the Orleans Parish Justice Center.

Anyone with additional information on this incident is asked to contact NOPD Homicide Detective Nicholas Williams at (504) 658-5300.