Overview
- On Aug. 5, 1997, Gloria Ann Covington was found partially nude, stabbed, and sexually assaulted in Hilltop Park after children discovered her body.
- The Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab generated a DNA profile from Covington’s autopsy evidence and in February 2024 a CODIS search matched the profile to Jimmy Dale McClinton.
- Investigators obtained a warrant to collect McClinton’s DNA and confirmed the match, then worked with the Texas Rangers and the Texas Attorney General’s Office to prepare the case for a grand jury.
- McClinton, who had a documented history of arrests and knife assaults and lived in Amarillo at the time of the killing, died in November 2025 at age 81 before charges could be presented.
- The case highlights how preserved evidence and modern forensic testing can identify suspects years later while also underscoring that a suspect’s death can close a prosecution and leave victims’ families without a criminal trial.