A man believed to have injured a local pastor nearly two weeks ago turned himself in to law enforcement officers Thursday, was charged and later released.

The man, William Henry Carr, 25, of 158 Blanton St., Magnolia, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, a felony, and placed under a $30,000 bond Thursday by Magistrate C. Hollingsworth.

According to reports, Carr was brought in front of the magistrate at 6:10 p.m., made bail and was out of jail by 6:23 p.m.

The new charges came on the heels of District Attorney Dewey Hudson’s re-examination of the case after seeing a Sampson Independent picture of injuries sustained by St. James Disciples of Christ Church pastor Willie James Jr.,

“I realized that once I saw the picture in the paper, that if that was accurate, it was, in fact, a serious injury,” Hudson said Wednesday. “There was a lot of confusion of what a serious injury is. A serious injury is life-threatening, but legally, a serious injury is defined as one that caused great pain and suffering. When I talked with Mr. James, I was convinced that this (his injuries) did meet the legal requirement of what a serious injury was. At that point, the sheriff and I concluded that we should go out and take out a new warrant on Mr. Carr.”

Carr, a convicted felon, was initially charged with assault with a deadly weapon and given a $2,500 bond.

His first court appearance was expected to be Friday.

The suspect had been sought by Sampson County Sheriff’s officials for the assault on James while he was cooking food for a Family and Friends Day celebration at his church on Saturday, Sept. 19.

Carr turned himself in to deputies at 5:30 p.m. Thursday night to face a more serious charge after Hudson issued a warrant earlier this week.

To reach Doug Clark call 910-592-8137 ext. 123 or send e-mail to sisports@myclintonnc.com.