One man is custody in relation to the suspected murder of a Poplarville man.
Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department Chief Investigator Marc Ogden said the department received a call from a concerned citizen at about 11 a.m. Tuesday asking them to send a deputy to conduct a welfare check on a man living at 40 Newman Road outside of Poplarville.
Deputies arrived to find the resident of the home deceased, possibly due to foul play, Ogden said. Investigators came to the scene and began collecting evidence, which eventually led to a warrant being issued for the arrest of a Long Beach man.
Ogden said that investigators later arrested 60-year-old Steven Stuart, of Ridge Crest Estate in Long Beach for the murder warrant late Tuesday night. He is currently being held in the Lenoir Rowell Correctional Facility in Millard, according to jail records.
Ogden said the arrest was conducted with the assistance of the U.S. Marshal’s Task Force in Harrison County.
Pearl River County Coroner Derek Turnage said the deceased has been identified as 53-year-old John Wesley Stuart of 40 Newman Road, Poplarville. His cause of death was listed as being due to multiple gunshot wounds.
Ogden said the two men were brothers.