Three weeks after his arrest in Las Vegas, a Winters murder suspect is back in Yolo County and due in court Friday afternoon.
William Carl Gardner III, 30, is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Friday on charges stemming from the Nov. 18 shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, Leslie Pinkston, outside her downtown Winters workplace.
Gardner is being held at the Yolo County Jail, where he arrived late Monday night after being extradited from Las Vegas, according to the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department. He was arrested Dec. 10, three weeks after the fatal shooting, following a six-hour standoff at a Las Vegas apartment complex.
Winters police obtained a warrant for Gardner’s arrest on suspicion of murder on the night of Pinkston’s death, but the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office is awaiting complete law-enforcement reports before determining what specific charges will be filed, Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Raven said today.
In addition to murder, Gardner continues to face allegations of stalking, vandalism and criminal threats in connection with a Jan. 13 incident that occurred at the Winters home Pinkston shared with her mother and young daughter. A trial in that case had been set for early December.
Pinkston, 32, was shot at close range while sitting in her parked vehicle on Railroad Avenue on the morning of Nov. 18, police said. She died of a head wound shortly thereafter at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene