Army Veteran Dies After Brutal Beating in Hotel Room Allegedly by Man He Met in a Bar

RALEIGH, N.C. (TheBlaze/AP) — An Army veteran beaten by a man he met at a bar has died in North Carolina, police said.

Stephen Patrick White (Image source: WFMY-TV)

Stephen Patrick White, 46, died Saturday afternoon at a hospital, Greensboro Police spokeswoman Susan Danielsen said.

White's longtime partner, Alex Teal, had said White had most of both arms amputated after he was severely burned in a hotel room that caught fire when he was attacked by a man last Sunday. He says White's condition deteriorated Saturday before he died about 3 p.m.

Garry Joseph Gupton, 26, had been charged with aggravated assault with intent to kill, Danielsen said, adding to the AP that Gupton now is charged with first-degree murder.

Court records show Gupton beat White with a desk phone, large television, other items of furniture and a deadly weapon, WFMY-TV reported.

Danielsen said earlier there was no indication the incident was motivated by the sexuality of the victim.

"I am just in awe of the magnitude of the hate that is involved and I truly do not believe this man has a soul," Riki Dubin, a friend of White, told WFMY. "...I just couldn't ever imagine any human treating another human like that." Dubin added that White was wounded in Iraq.

The following report aired before White's death: