CLEVELAND — In Yvonne Pointer’s mind, her daughter Gloria will always be 14 years old.
“I could see her as a baby and in kindergarten. I could see her cheering at a game, but nothing past 14,” Pointer said.
Gloria was on her way to school in 1984 when she was grabbed, raped and beaten to death.
For decades the murder was a mystery, until DNA pointed to career criminal Hernandez Warren who was convicted.
Pointer met him in prison and tried to understand.
“What is it that’s going on up there that we need to know so we can protect children?” she asked.
It would, not be her only brush with criminals, either.
Last year thieves ransacked her home. Yet the adversity only made her stronger.
“They can take all your stuff, but they can’t have my peace,” she said.
Over the years, Yvonne Pointer has built schools in Africa and been honored by Presidents. She has given away 35 scholarships in her daughter’s name and regularly visits the incarcerated.
Her path continues to be carved by the memory of her oldest daughter.
“When she was alive [Gloria] was always volunteering me at the schools,” Pointer said. “And her theme was, ‘My mother will do it. Can we get somebody to bake some cookies? Oh, my mother will do it. Can we get somebody to pick up the kids? My mother will do it.’ So, I think she’s in heaven looking down and said, ‘Oh my mother will do that,’ like ‘give her the assignment.’”
To this day, Yvonne Pointer still lives in Cleveland in the same house where she raised Gloria.
Friday marks what would have been her 50th birthday and 3News will host a special reception for her at its studios.