Eptwarnd Saunders, 31 of Midway was arrested Monday in connection with the slaying of James Caswell Jones, 62, according to Liberty County Sheriff Steve Sikes.

Saunders, 31, of Midway was arrested in front of Angie’s diner, where he is employed.

The Midway man has been charged with murder and aggravated assault.

Jones’ body was found outside an unoccupied residence beside his parked truck on Freedman Grove Road in the Fleming community on Jan. 29. He had reportedly been shot.

According to Liberty County Sheriff Office Detective Capt. Tracy Jennings, interviews with witnesses who were in the area at the time of the shooting pointed to Saunders as a person of interest.

Upon further investigation, Jennings said Saunders became the prime suspect after interviewing members of Jones’ family and after speaking with Saunders.

"We are still working on the motive right now," Jennings said. "We have some pretty good information on that right now, of course, or we wouldn’t have gotten the warrants. But based on the fact that we are still looking at some of that I think it would be a little bit preemptive to release it."

Saunders was denied bond Tuesday morning at a first appearance hearing at the Liberty County Jail.

Lewis Levine contributed to this report.