Gloria Ann Covington

DNA Identifies Suspect in Gloria Covington’s 1997 Amarillo Murder

Nearly 29 years after Gloria Ann Covington was brutally murdered in an Amarillo park, investigators say DNA evidence has identified the man responsible. The suspect, Jimmy Dale McClinton, died before authorities could arrest or prosecute him.

Covington, 45, was found dead on August 5, 1997, in Hilltop Park, now known as Hines Memorial Park. Two children discovered her partially unclothed body near the park’s North YMCA location. She had suffered multiple stab wounds, and investigators believed she may also have been sexually assaulted.^[1]

Police determined that Covington was likely taken to the park in a vehicle and assaulted inside it. Investigators believe she managed to escape and run across the park, but her attacker chased her, caught her and continued the assault as she fought for her life. Despite an extensive investigation, police could not identify her killer, and the case eventually went cold.^[2]

After creating a dedicated cold-case unit, the Amarillo Police Department began working with the Texas Rangers, the Texas Department of Public Safety crime laboratory and cold-case prosecutors from the Texas Attorney General’s Office. Evidence from Covington’s case was submitted for new testing in 2023.

In 2024, a DNA profile obtained from a hair recovered from Covington’s body produced a match in CODIS, the national law-enforcement DNA database. The profile belonged to McClinton, who had lived in Amarillo when Covington was killed but had never been identified as a suspect during the original investigation.

Investigators located McClinton in Buchanan Dam and questioned him. He provided little information before requesting an attorney, but police obtained a warrant for his DNA. Testing reportedly confirmed that his sample matched the hair evidence. Authorities prepared the case for prosecution, but McClinton died on November 23, 2025, at age 73, before he could be charged.

Texas Rangers have indicated that McClinton was also considered a suspect in other cases. Although his death prevents a criminal trial, investigators and Covington’s relatives said identifying him has provided the family with long-awaited answers and a measure of closure.