Yvonne Pointer
Appearances
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
So until 29 years, I didn't even get to grieve. When I say grieve, I mean just have a good cry. My name is Yvonne Pointer. They said you murdered Gloria. If you did, would you just let me know so that I could please put an end to the wanderings?
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
I kept looking at all these people screaming and falling out, and it's almost like I was there, but I wasn't. And I'm thinking, what is wrong with everybody? And so I still was not comprehending.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
She normally gets out, I think it was about 2.45, and I said, just wait, the door's about to open. Just watch. And I just sat there looking at the door. And at 3 o'clock, I think it was, no Gloria, 315, no Gloria. And I caught up and I walked on the porch and I kind of looked both ways and I didn't see her coming. There was no way that she was not going to come home one time.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
I was a product of 10 children in one family. six boys and four girls. So needless to say, growing up was quite noisy. It was always loud and it was always disagreements and it was always food cooking on the stove. And it was just a house that I wouldn't trade for anything.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
It just wasn't going to happen. And that's when I said it was her.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
He described the items that were brought in. Did she have this? Was this her book bag? Was this her comb? And I said, yes.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
They had her cleaned up and in the casket. They would not let me see her prior to that.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And I said, I'll find out. Don't worry. I'll find out.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
Her case was like high profile because there was four homicides of 14-year-old girls in a three-month period in Cleveland. And so they were trying to hurry up and close somebody's death.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
Her brother was looking out the window and he saw the man push her in the car. Well, because that day it was that horrible snowstorm, when he tried to take off, the car got stuck in the snow. So by this time, the mother runs out of the house, snatches the car door open and gets her daughter out of the car.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And so the homicide detectives in Gloria's case felt, oh, wait a minute, this is the same day that Gloria Pointer was murdered. So he did Gloria Pointer, too.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And this car pulls up, grabs one of them, throws her in the car and takes off.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
Back then, you did not go to school pregnant. You enrolled in what we call the adult education centers because now you are no longer a child. You're an adult. And they didn't want you infecting the other children. So you had to leave and go to the adult school.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
They even had a young man in Las Vegas who went to school with her that rumored they were boyfriend and girlfriend, and they were talking to him.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
I didn't even get to grieve because it was so unfair. When I say grieve, I mean just have a good cry because I was so busy fighting a system that was killing her twice.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
No, I was not going to be quiet. I was named the Federal Bureau of Investigations Community Leader Award twice. Nobody in history has ever received that award. So I wasn't just sitting down twiddling my thumbs. I was doing what I could to make the world a better place.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
I went through five chiefs of police, every new prosecutor, every new homicide detective. I was a thorn in the flesh of the system.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And it was unfortunate for Gloria that she was, if I may be honest, an African-American woman. a black girl in the inner city because that's the way the investigation proceeded.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
Now, she's bloodied and wounded at the bottom of a stairwell, semen protruding from her vaginal area. What do you mean this person didn't rape her? It's obvious she was raped.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
So that's the way that investigation flowed. We got to find somebody she was sexually active with so we can put this on Romel.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
Why is this the way this investigation is going? Why are you trying to find someone she was sexually active with? Why are you trying to smear and tarnish her? Let's find the killer.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And I would say, Romel, my name is Yvonne Pointer. They said you murdered Gloria. If you did, would you just let me know so that I could please put an end to the wondering?
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
So I thought for sure that he was in prison. So I would do my victim's impact statements in the preno system. I would volunteer for programs and give me a room full of rapists and murderers and let me tell my story.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
I remember the disappointment with my mom with me being pregnant because she didn't want another baby. She had 10 kids. That was just an extra burden on her. So on the day that I went into labor, she took me to the hospital and she left.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
Well, because in order for somebody to do something this heinous, they had to be a heinous person and they had to be institutionalized, period. There can't be anybody walking around on the street. Or so I thought.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
If you didn't just say it, that was my favorite mind.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
I went into the prisons not for the purpose that I'm there now, but I went looking for Gloria's killer because I made a commitment to her when I finally got to see her body three days later that I would find her killer. And I was willing to go wherever that path led.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
I thought it would happen in the prisons. He was going to have to walk up to me and say, I murdered Goya. That was the only thing that was going to bring consolation to me, that to hear it come out of his mouth, because I no longer could trust the system.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
We had inmates who said things to me like, I never one time thought about the mother of the person I murdered until you started coming to these prisons. I never one time thought about the person had a mother and the pain that the mother must be going through.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
After 25 years, one day I went to my post office box and there was a letter from Romel Broome.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And the letter went on to say, by the time you get this letter, I will no longer be on the face of the earth. But he was encouraging me not to give up my fight. He had been watching me all of that time.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
I never, ever, ever lost hope. I knew that with my dying breath, I was going to continue my search, no matter where that took me.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
But I think that formed a bond between me and this baby because I felt that all we had was each other. So I delivered her and the rest almost was like a blur because I don't remember life ever going back to normal.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
There was all those unsolved rape kits, and there was a push to test them. My friend, Rachel DeSalle, who worked as a reporter, my sister said, well, ask Rachel, would they just test Gloria's kit? And I said, they don't have to test it. They've tested it. It's done already.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
When I get to the hospital, they said, there's one young lady in the room that does not have any family because nobody knew she was even missing. Would I mind sitting with her?
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
So I sit down next to her. I'm holding her hand. Her name is Michelle Knight. Her little body is so frail.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And I just was so mad at God. I said, do you even care? Are you real? Why don't you do something? Now, this is not about glory. This is just period. I'm fed up with all these homicides. Do something.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
A simple, quiet voice said, I am going to set the captives free. Just like that. And so I left the church telling everybody, proclaiming. Guess what? I was in prayer this morning. God said he's going to set the captives free.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
that made me make a commitment to my baby at that time that she would not have to endure the disappointments that I was enduring. So as a 16-year-old mother, I was committed to making sure that I found a way to navigate her around the derailment.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
So I get to the office and there's the chief of police, the homicide detective. And I said, where's Michelle? Where's Michelle?
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
They said, we've made an arrest in Gloria's case. And they slipped up a picture across the desk and they said, do you know this person? I said, no. And I said, are you sure it's him? That's all I said. They said, it's him.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And when Gloria's arrest was announced, it was like pandemonium broke out in the city because everybody was happy for Ms. Pointer. The mayor, the inmates, they shut down our office at City Hall and they brought everybody outside and it was almost like a celebration.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
I remember thinking how petite of a man he was. I thought he was a monster for so many years and that he loomed as high as the sky. And here he was, this frail little old man looking person. And I thought I could probably beat him up if I tried, you know. So he was nothing like what I thought a killer would look like, if that makes sense.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
Our side of the courtroom could have sent the earth on topsy-turvy because it was a million people. And on his side was his sister. And I kept thinking, where's his family? Why is somebody here to support him? And my family was like, what do you care about that? And I was like, well, why isn't anybody here?
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
What I wanted him to help me to understand was the mindset of people like him. So if we're going to prevent this from happening to another child, what is it we should be looking for? And I said to him, if you help me, you will be known for more than the man who murdered Gloria. You would be known also as the man who helped Gloria's mother.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
I said, I understand what it feels like to not want to live. And I told him about the night that I begged God to come and get me because I could not take it anymore. And I said these words, I don't even have a reason to live. And God, who is the present help, said that then I will be your reason.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
You know, even after the killer is apprehended, I still look over my shoulder. I still check doors. I still look out windows.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
What I felt was the weariness of the journey. You know, like when you run in a marathon and you collapse when you cross the finish line. I was just glad I made it to the finish line.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
That single letter catapulted the Gloria Pointer Teen Movement in Ghana, West Africa, where we now have five schools. We've got orphanages. We've got a library. We've got churches. We've got all kinds of things in her name. So I travel frequently back and forth to Ghana and work with children there to help feed and educate them.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
The service is what saved my life. Service to others gave me a reason to get out of the bed, a reason to get up. When I started seeing that there's something that I can do with all of this grief,
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And I would say to her, would you stop volunteering me for everything? We need someone to bake cookies. We need somebody to bring cupcakes. She would say, my mother would do it. So if she was alive, she would say, see, I told you my mother would do it.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
I felt like I was on a banana peel sliding through life, trying to find out what was going on and how do I stop this slippery slope that I was on. It just kind of continued to spiral, so much so until I just kind of hit a bottom.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
Yeah, and one day I'll see her and she'll receive me with open arms and she'll say, okay, it's my turn to take care of you now.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
I was happy for that, for myself, my children. And we started a new direction. We were in the church. We were going to Sunday school. I was back on point that these children will not be subject to the life that I had endured. And so in my mind, everything was going along just perfectly.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
We're going to go to school. We're going to get good grades. We're going to graduate. We're going to go to college. We're going to have a prom. You're going to do all of this stuff that I didn't get to do. And then we're going to have this wonderful life. So I thought this was the trajectory.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
She was more the mother than I was. She was almost like my overseer and my protector. I remember one day crying, over something, whether it was bills or a bad relationship. I don't remember what it was. And she just kind of consolated me. And she said, you know, I'm going to make life better for you. You won't have to cry your whole lifetime.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And so she was just always the one who seemed to say, I'm going to take care of you.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
When we didn't have money for the popsicle trucks that came down the streets in the summer, I did have sugar and butter and flour. And I would bake cookies and have Gloria and Raymond sell them to the children in the community that had money. And with that money, they could now buy a popsicle for themselves. So they always saw me as the provider in spite of.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
It was difficult financially, but they didn't know it.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
As she grew, everybody knew me in the school as Gloria Pointer's mother. Why? Because I was present. I was going to make sure that when the snafus hit in her life, that I was going to be there to divert them.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
I was there in the auditorium, and I saw her on the stage, and she said, Hello, people. How do you do? Check me out. My name is Gloria. And I jumped up, and I screamed, Yay, Gloria! And she would always say I'd embarrass her. But then she knew that I was present there.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
She was that thirsty. She was quadruple filled with joy that she had made the basketball team. And oh, was she excited.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
Well, she didn't want to do that because she would mess up her hair and she was excited about getting the perfect attendance award. So we had a little discussion about you will dress for the element. And so she left for school.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And I saw her. while we were on the route walking. And I kind of screamed, why are you walking this back way? You know, sometimes kids tend to take cuts or shortcuts. And she said, well, I'm going to Maisha's house to get something. Maisha was her girlfriend. And I said, well, hurry up and get to school.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
I just felt that if you stayed on the main streets, you'd be visible. And I mean, sure, this is the way you cut through to get to the house or cut through to get to the schools. But it just was something about that morning that I didn't want her going that way.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And so I said, oh, she'll be okay. When I see her later, I'm going to really give her an earful about cutting through this back street.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And they're asking, where's Gloria? And I'm like, what do you mean, where's Gloria? She's at school. And they said, no, they had this huge assembly where the children were getting the awards. They called her name to come on stage to get her award, and she didn't come up. And they were calling me to see if she was still at home.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And I said, call the police for what? He said, she's not here. So because she had a reputation for being on time, never absent, they knew something was wrong.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
There's absolutely nothing wrong. This will all resolve itself in a few minutes. And the only thing I'm thinking is when I see her, she's going to be in trouble. She's going to be in trouble.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
And I said, sit down for what? And they just kept saying, sit down. I was determined to be defiant. I'm not sitting down. What do I need to sit down for? And they said, we have found a body. Well, with that said, I didn't have to sit down. The floor kind of reached up and grabbed me and pulled me close to it. I just collapsed.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
So they called the owner of the building and said, somebody's trying to kick the door in. And the owner was eating breakfast at his home. He says, when I'm done with breakfast, I'll come.
Anatomy of Murder
My Name Is Gloria (Gloria Pointer)
So I know that there's a place that you go to that kind of removes you from the moment, if that makes sense. You're in the moment, but you're not in the moment.