Adopted son of a slain West Ashley woman arrested

The adopted son of a slain West Ashley woman was arrested this morning on a charge that he stole the vehicle she often used.

Walker Wayne Pinkleton, 21, faces a charge of grand larceny and is a person of interest in his adoptive mother’s death, Charleston police spokesman Charles Francis said. He’s on probation for a 2010 burglary conviction, records show.

The Charleston Police Department reported that he was seen driving the Ford Excursion owned by the husband of 59-year-old Patricia Walker.

The husband, 64-year-old Norman Pinkleton, told the police that he wasn’t allowed to have the vehicle.

Officers found Walker’s body in her locked bedroom after her concerned mother, who lives in Columbia, asked for a welfare check around 5 p.m. Sunday. She had been shot.

Walker owned the house at 958 Orange Grove Road, according to property records.

Charleston County Deputy Coroner Scott Ramsey said an autopsy on Walker’s body was planned later today, so he could not immediately confirm the woman’s cause of death

Her mother told the police that she hadn’t heard from Walker since Friday, according to an incident report.

Investigators think Walker knew her killer, Francis said.

Reach Andrew Knapp at 937-5414 or twitter.com/offlede.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Previous versions of this story may have been ambiguous as to whom police have described as a person of interest in the homicide. The Post and Courier regrets the error.