Since they were both in the ninth grade, Ashley McGill and Fredrick McClinton Sr. struggled through a relationship marked by allegations of domestic violence and threats of suicide.
In court papers, McGill said McClinton beat and choked her and harassed her and her family. He also tried to cut her name into his leg, and in another incident, banged his head on doors, she said.
The couple's young son saw McClinton, a professional boxer, beat McGill and sometimes mimicked his father by hitting her, McGill said in court papers. Other times, their son would be afraid and run toward his mother, which would anger McClinton, according to court papers.
McClinton also owed $935 in child support, court papers said.
Their tumultuous relationship ended violently Monday night when Forsyth County sheriff's deputies found the couple shot to death in McGill's house at 4989 Davis Road off Old Walkertown Road. Deputies found the couple's son, 4, standing outside the house with a relative. It was not immediately clear if the son saw the shooting.
McGill was 21 and McClinton, who lived in Kernersville, was 22. McGill had been a student at Forsyth Technical Community College, Chief Brad Stanley said. College officials would not confirm if she was a student, citing federal privacy laws.
McClinton had worked security and stocking at a corner store, court papers said. Stanley said McClinton was unemployed, but his boxing promoter said McClinton was boxing professionally at the time of his death.
Deputies went to McGill's house Monday at 9:58 p.m. about a disturbance, the sheriff's office said in a news release. People standing outside the house told deputies they had heard a gunshot being fired in the house. When deputies went into the house, they found the bodies of McGill and McClinton. Their bodies were taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for autopsies.
Stanley said the deaths appear to be murder-suicide, but he declined to say who shot whom. He didn't immediately know the location of the gunshot wounds on their bodies or how many times each person had been shot.
Stanley said sheriff's deputies and Winston-Salem police officers have responded several times to altercations between the couple.
Kerry Smith, McClinton's boxing promoter, said McClinton started boxing when he was about 11. McClinton often got into fights, and Smith encouraged him to box as a way to keep him off the streets. He was suspended briefly in 2009 for unprofessional conduct after a win but underwent a psychological evaluation. He was training for a fight in December at the Benton Convention Center, Smith said.
McClinton had won four professional fights. He had one loss and two draws, Smith said. McClinton had extraordinary strength as a fighter and enough power that he could take an opponent out with one punch, Smith said.
"He was a good person when he was having fun and enjoying life and trying to do good," he said.
McClinton and McGill argued a lot, and McGill would often leave for weeks at a time, leaving McClinton severely depressed and suicidal, Smith said. But Smith said he never saw McClinton physically abuse McGill.
He remembers McClinton being so depressed once that he wouldn't eat for three days, he said.
"She really had an affect on him," Smith said.
McGill had filed for a domestic-violence protective order in 2008, 2009 and this year. In all three cases, the orders were dismissed because McGill either didn't come to court or asked the court to set aside the order.
McGill's mother, Valagean McGill, filed a protective order on her daughter's behalf on July 7, 2008. According to the complaint, McClinton kept calling McGill, threatening to kill her. The complaint said that while McClinton was beating her, he threw their son, then 9 months old, across the living room because the child cried and tried to go to his mother.
Then, on May 14, 2009, McGill filed another protective order, saying McClinton had held her against her will, beat her and made harassing phone calls to her and her family. She said he called her more than 100 times, according to the complaint. McGill alleged that the day before she filed the complaint, McClinton had banged his head on doors and that on April 2, 2009, he had cut himself on his legs, spelling out her name.
McClinton denied physically abusing McGill, according to a report by Iris Sunshine, the guardian ad litem assigned to the couple's son. He admitted that he argued with McGill and pushed her out of the way during arguments.
McGill filed for another domestic-violence protective order March 2 of this year, alleging that McClinton kept picking fights and threatening to beat her. He also told her that if he hurt someone, he would kill that person and then kill himself, according to her complaint.
McGill said in the complaint that her son is often afraid when his father yells and runs to her. McClinton would get angry and "take it out on anyone in his path," court papers said. McGill also would threaten suicide to make her feel bad, the complaint said.
Anyone who has information should contact the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office at (336) 727-2112 or Crime Stoppers at (336) 727-2800.
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