A man accused of shooting and killing another man in broad daylight last year in St. Joseph is facing upgraded charges in Buchanan County.

Charles Leroy Coats Jr, 33 of St. Joseph was charged last year with second-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Jason Ginn, 32 of St. Joseph. Thursday the Buchanan County Prosecutor’s office filed felony charges for first-degree murder and armed criminal action against Coats.   According to the felony complaint filed in the alternative to the charge of first-degree murder the defendant would be charged with murder in the second. The new filings stem from an incident that took place Aug. 1, 2015.

As we previously reported, according to court documents on Aug. 1 of 2015  witnesses said they saw Coats on the front porch of his residence get into a verbal argument with Ginn and as Ginn started walking away witnesses said Coats pulled a handgun and began firing.  An autopsy found Ginn suffered four gunshot wounds to various parts of his body and died from a fatal gunshot wound to his head.

Police said Coats fled the area after the shooting.  He surrendered to law enforcement in Columbia, Mo. five days later.

Coats is slated for a jury trial in September on the original charge.  He’s currently being held without bail.