Dateline NBC revisits Gloria Pointer’s murder case from 1984. The 14-year-old was walking to Cleveland’s Harry E. Davis Junior High School on December 6 when she went missing. Witnesses reported seeing a suspicious man following her that morning. Hours later, a custodian in a fire escape stairwell found her dead body, as stated by The Cinemaholic. She had been sexually assaulted and beaten to death.
Cleveland’s homicide detectives, cold case officers, and the FBI investigated the case for 30 years before they made a breakthrough. They used DNA from Pointer’s clothes to find a potential suspect and they finally arrested Hernandez Warren in 2013 based on a match. Hernandez, who had a criminal background, confessed to the crime and pleaded guilty in the case.
The upcoming Dateline NBC episode “A Promise to Gloria” will air this Friday, January 5, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET.
How did detectives solve Gloria Pointer’s murder after 30 years?
According to Yvonne Pointer’s official website, her daughter Gloria Pointer was about to receive a perfect attendance award on the day she was murdered. She left for school earlier than usual on December 6, 1984, but never made it there. The principal of Harry E. Davis High School called her parents after learning that the 14-year-old had failed to show up for class.
The outlet confirmed that multiple witnesses claimed to have seen Poniter walking towards her school. However, they noted that a black male was following her. The man, wearing a brown coat and knit cap, grabbed the girl’s arm before the two disappeared. Hours later, around 10:30 a.m., an apartment custodian discovered her partially clothed body in a back stairwell of the building. She had been sexually assaulted and beaten to death.
Cleveland.com reported that Cleveland authorities, cold case detectives, and the FBI worked the case until they arrested Hernandez Warren in May 2013. They arrested Warren after DNA evidence linked him to Gloria Pointer’s murder using the latest DNA techniques. Moreover, the partial DNA profile had been identified years before but they never entered the results into databases that link criminals to crimes.
Reportedly, Warren, who had an extensive criminal background, had spent 16 years in prison for rape and kidnapping in 1985. The accused later admitted to authorities that he attacked Pointer while she was walking to school that morning. He alleged that he was high on drugs at the time and lured her to a back stairwell of the building. In his confession, he told authorities, “I killed her, but why and how, I don’t know. I was f—– up. I was f—– up.”
The convicted rapist said he raped the teenager at the bottom of the stairwell and was leaving when the girl started to follow him. He confessed to pushing her down the stairs and beating her with a brick or a pipe, according to Cleveland.com. He also told Cleveland police Detective Lem Griffin, “I’m a punk. I ain’t got no heart … I deserve to die. I’ve been thinking about this since I got out of the joint.”
In May 2014, Hernandez Warren, then 59, pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and rape in Pointer’s murder case. As part of the plea deal, he received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 30 years. He later attempted to withdraw his guilty plea but the court denied his appeal, per Fox 8.
Dateline NBC’s episode on Gloria Pointer’s murder case airs on the network on January 5, 2024.
