Suvechha Sarkar
On the cold morning of December 6, 1984, Gloria Evett Pointer had set out for school just like any other day. However, the day soon turned into a nightmare that shook not only her family but also the entire community of Cleveland. Her body was discovered in the basement of a building near her school – she had been brutally murdered. NBC’s ‘Dateline: A Promise to Gloria’ focuses on this gruesome case where her loved ones were left without answers for nearly three decades. The episode also features interviews with her mother and the officials involved, whose consistent efforts eventually brought justice.
Gloria Pointer Was Found Dead Mere Hours After the Fact
Born on February 28, 1970, in Cleveland in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Gloria Evett Pointer was a beacon of light in the lives of her father and mother, Yvonne Pointer. Her parents sadly separated while she was still young, following which Yvonne moved on and remarried before settling down in the East 114th Street neighborhood. So, Gloria grew up in a modest but loving household with her mother, stepfather, and two younger siblings. Being the oldest of three, she always looked out for her siblings with the protective care that only an older sister could provide. She was also the type of person who left a lasting impression with her bubbly personality. She was not just popular among her peers, but was also adored by her teachers. A student of the Davis Junior High, she was a spirited cheerleader with a contagious smile. Gloria’s mother described her as a “caring” and “loving person.”
The morning of December 6, 1984, was a celebration since Gloria was about to receive a special award from her school for her perfect attendance. She had called her best friend even before sunrise and informed her that she would visit before school to get a special comb as she wanted to look perfect for her big day. Gloria set out around 7:00 am from her home for school. Her mother, stepdad, and brother were out in their car to sell newspapers when Yvonne later spotted her walking towards a dark alley to take a shortcut to school. Although she cautioned Gloria, the latter did not change her route and continued walking down that path. Shortly after, one of her school friends, LaMar Thomas, saw her not far behind him as he stepped into school, noticing she was with someone he reportedly assumed to be a friend.
However, when the award ceremony began on that fateful day, Gloria was nowhere to be found. Everyone soon began looking for her as she failed to turn up, even when her name was announced for her award. That’s when her best friend informed the principal that Gloria had also not shown up at her house like she had promised that morning. Ultimately, the principal informed Yvonne about the situation and asked her to inform the police. However, they did not realize that officials had already found her body in the basement of an apartment building near the school. They had received a 911 call shortly prior, reporting suspicious activity, and when they arrived at the scene, they found Gloria deceased at the bottom of the basement stairs. She had been beaten to death, and there was even evidence of sexual assault. Detectives had found the victim’s school ID and bag at the scene, helping them identify Gloria. The autopsy results confirmed her cause of death to be multiple blunt trauma impacts to her head and upper torso.
DNA Technology Advancements Brought Justice After Nearly Three Decades
With Gloria’s death evidently being a murder and her autopsy also ruling it a homicide, officials kickstarted their investigations by retracing her route on the fateful morning. They discovered that, apart from LaMar Thomas, a teacher had also spotted her earlier, at around 7:10 am, with a male. Several other people reportedly came forward with the same account. However, these accounts did not provide any major leads because it was a cold, foggy day. Hence, the only description police received was that this mysterious male had on “heavy clothing,” and Gloria showed no signs of distress. Thus, they started going from door to door in the hopes of getting a clearer picture and even interviewed her stepfather and her then-boyfriend, DeShawn Haley, as possible suspects. However, their alibis checked out, ruling them out. One of their neighbours was also a person of interest, especially as he allegedly even kissed Gloria’s lips during her funeral, but it turned into a dead end. So, when detectives found out that another girl, Tryna Middleton, was murdered in the same manner on the same day at around 6:30 pm, they began looking for connections. The investigations of this latter case brought forth a suspect by the name of Romell Broom, a previously convicted rapist.
The police reportedly wondered whether Romell could have been involved in Gloria’s murder, too. However, there was no way to confirm his identity as her killer because not only was there no evidence against him, but witnesses’ accounts could also not be relied upon. Two individuals had picked him in a photo lineup, but because that fateful morning was so dreary and they had only seen the male from the side or afar, the identification was not certain. Romell was eventually, on October 3, 1985, convicted of Tryna’s murder before being sentenced to death, with no charge against him ever being filed in connection with Gloria’s case. Yvonne did write letters to him for years in search of answers, but he never wrote back. However, on the morning of his execution on September 15, 2009, he decided to help her – he took out some time and penned a letter to her, making it clear that he did not harm or murder Gloria in any manner. He thought he was going to die, so there was no point in him lying, but he was given reprieve when executioners could not find a vein to insert the IV for the lethal injection.
Over the years, DNA technology began developing, and the prosecutor’s office, police, and even the FBI started putting in efforts to help solve Gloria’s cold case. They obtained traces from her clothes and shoes, which had thankfully been preserved in evidence, resulting in them getting the killer’s genetic profile. However, despite multiple attempts to find a match in the databases they had, nothing turned up. Over time, advancements in technology helped them develop a better profile, too, but it wasn’t until 2013 that they got a breakthrough in the case. The DNA left behind at the scene and on Gloria matched the DNA of 58-year-old Hernandez Warren. Looking into him, officials discovered that he had already served 16 years in prison for rape and felonious assault. They also found out that back in 1964, he was 29 years old and lived less than a mile away from Gloria.
Therefore, Investigators brought Hernandez in for questioning under the ruse that they wanted to look at old cases from the 1970s and 1980s. Initially, he denied even recognizing Gloria, and later failed a polygraph test about the same. However, on the second day of questioning, he ended up confessing that he had seen Glorida on the fateful morning and followed her before strong-arming her to the scene and attacking her. Thus, on May 13, 2013, he was arrested on the charge of aggravated murder and rape. Hernandez pleaded guilty to both counts in 2014, as a result of which he was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years to life in prison for murder and a minimum of 10 years for rape. This means that he will not be eligible for parole anytime before May 2043.
Read More: Jason Paul Corbett Murder: How Did He Die? Who Killed Him?
