A Gaston County woman is expected in court early next week to face charges in the November death of a Salisbury man who was found dead in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Gastonia.

Jennifer Lynn Wilson, 30, of Gastonia, was charged Nov. 11 with failure to notify a law enforcement authority of the death of Charles Jeffery Unterstein. She is also charged with breaking into Unterstein’s 2007 gray Ford Focus and taking his wallet, a phone, $100 and a computer tablet, according to the Gastonia Police Department.

She remains in the Gaston County jail under an $80,000 secured bond.

The body of Unterstein, 30, of 227 Sage Way, was found after it sat for 12 hours in the parking lot of Wal-Mart at 223 N. Myrtle School Road in Gastonia.

Gastonia police Sgt. Heath McMullan told the Gaston Gazette that investigators believe Wilson and Unterstein were acquaintances and had been together at some point before Unterstein’s death.

A medical examiner’s report lists Unterstein’s cause of death as a fentanyl overdose. It’s unclear if police think Wilson broke into the vehicle after the man’s death or before.

Reports say that investigators don’t know if Unterstein was alive or not at the time of the vehicle break-in.

Unterstein’s body was found in a seat that was reclined slightly. His head was between the front seats. His vehicle had pulled into the parking lot about 12 hours earlier, the Gaston Gazette reported.

Wilson is expected in court May 2. Jail records show she was sentenced to 25 days in jail April 18 in a separate case for failure to pay child support.

— Shavonne Walker