An elderly Clayton County man sent to check on his grandson Friday evening was murdered and left to burn in a house fire, police said.

Clayton County police arrested the grandson late Saturday morning for allegedly shooting and killing 70-year-old Jack Uselton, of Fayetteville.

Herbert George Ledford, 24, of Hampton, was charged with murder, arson and aggravated assault, police spokesman Capt. Greg Dickens said.

Family members living nearby called the fire department to the Hampton house at 11991 Panhandle Road because they smelled smoke and gasoline. Uselton was found in a bathtub, shot in the head and shoulder, Dickens said.

"He had gone to the house to check on the grandson, after family members said the grandson wasn't acting right," the police captain said.

Ledford lived at the house with his mother, who was away in Florida.

"We suspect the fire was set to cover up the crime," Dickens said

Reporter Jeffrey Scott contributed to this story.