HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Huntsville police are investigating the early morning death of local artist Wade Wharton, who was found slain in his front yard.

Officers have arrested and charged Ervin Akeem Tolbert with capital murder. Tolbert, 19, is a neighbor of Wharton's on Nassau Drive.

Edward Phelps, who lives next-door to Wharton, told AL.com that he and his wife heard a commotion at Wharton's home around 4 a.m.

"Usually, when he does his artwork, you hear, 'Clank, clank, clank, clank,' Phelps said. "This was more like a thump, and it kept thumping."

Phelps said officers arrived at the scene around 6:30 a.m.

Phelps said Tolbert and his mother were taken in for questioning around 9 a.m. A reporter at the scene saw investigators enter the family's home just before 10:30 a.m.

Ervin Akeem Tolbert(Madison County jail)

Police first reported Wharton's death around 6:40 a.m. Tolbert and his mother were taken for questioning at the Huntsville Police Department's south precinct.

Wharton, born Malbourn Elswade Wharton, came to the public's attention in 2008 when the city cited him for "improper storage of junk" in his southwest Huntsville yard. He had long collected bits of metal and other castoffs he used to create sculptures he placed around his home. After The Huntsville Times reported on his battles with the city, Wharton developed a following of devoted fans of his art, many of whom stepped in to help him clean up the piles of what the city called junk.

He eventually pleaded guilty to the charge of keeping junk in his yard and, in exchange, received no fine from the city.

He told a Times reporter in 2008 that a stroke in 1974 changed the way his mind worked, releasing his creative side. He began with whittling, and then moved to painting, drawing and gardening. He also created stained glass and wrote poetry.

But it was the work he did with cast-off metal that drew attention. In his hands, a sheet of metal mesh became a giant flyswatter and the wings of horsefly with a body made of an old cylinder. He created "Red Man," fashioning the body, arms, legs and head out of old wrenches.

For most of his artistic life, Wharton's gallery was his yard, but in 2012, the Huntsville Art League held a show of his work and the Huntsville Botanical Garden mounted a trail of his sculptures in 2013. The Wade Wharton Sculpture Trail includes works that range from a praying mantis to a time machine, as well as one of Wharton's large blue bottle trees.

In a 2012 interview with The Times/AL.com, Wharton said he had begun to think about his legacy and what would happen to his art after he was gone.

"I would like for them to appreciate me after I die,'' he said. "I can keep it going while I am living.''

Updated at at 1:12 p.m. to confirm Wharton was the victim found in his yard.

Staff writers Pat Ammons and Paul Gattis contributed to this report.