Walker County woman found strangled in woods was pregnant at time of death

Candace Hankins
Candace Hankins
photo David Ryan Walker
photo Candace Hankins

The woman found strangled in the woods in Walker County was pregnant at the time of her death, according to an autopsy.

David Ryan Walker, her then-boyfriend who police have charged with her death, could face additional charges, according to a news release from Sheriff Steve Wilson.

Walker remains in the Walker County Detention Facility.

He has already been charged with killing Hankins and dumping her body in the woods near the house where they lived just outside Lafayette, Georgia.

Authorities believe the killing took place inside the house and that Walker then wrapped Hankins' body in a blanket and dragged it into the woods about 75 yards from the house, Wilson said.

According to a resume posted online, Hankins had been studying at UTC to become a legal assistant but was not currently enrolled. She had lost custody of her child in a bitter divorce several years ago, and both her parents died in the past year.

"Candace loved her family and her son very much, and she was working hard to try to provide for them and she really didn't deserve anything like this," said attorney Jason Fisher, who handled Hankins' divorce case.

Officials said Walker called his relatives after the alleged murder, expressing remorse.

When some of them came to the house on Wheeler Road, he asked them to help him dispose of the body, the sheriff told reporters, but they refused and instead called authorities

"They did the right thing, they backed off and left and called the authorities," Wilson said.

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