Basketball coach Jimmy McClain was found dead on the floor of his own home in Cordova Tennessee in February 2013. He had been shot dead 7 times with a .40 caliber gun by his stepson Dwayne Moore.
Authorities at Ridgeway High School, where Jimmy McClain worked as a basketball coach and teacher, became concerned for his welfare when he uncharacteristically failed to turn up for work. When police paid his home a visit, they discovered that he’d been lying dead for approximately 24 hours.
There were no signs of a struggle or of forced entry into the house, and all the doors and windows were firmly locked, therefore police instantly suspected that the victim might have known the perpetrator. McClain had been married to Carla McClain since 2001 and suspicions very quickly fell on her son Dwayne Moore.
Investigators learnt from family members that Moore had had a difficult relationship with McClain. He had stated that McClain had disrespected his mother and he expressed a wish to avenge her.
McClain had recently filed for a divorce from Moore’s mother, Carla McClain. He had allegedly met someone else through the church he attended and had been dating them for 6 months. Witnesses said he was happy to be moving on from the tumultuous affair he’d had with Carla.
Moore’s uncle, Donald Page, later told police that Moore had taken him aside to say that McClain had “got out of line” and he was not going “to let nobody disrespect [his mother] her… the way he did”. Moore had added that “he had to handle business”.
Police subsequently found the murder weapon at the house of an associate of Moore’s best friend. They further discovered Moore and his friend had deleted their phone conversations that had occurred around the time of the murder.
Investigators also retrieved a phone conversation between Moore’s friend and the associate in whose home the gun was hidden, warning them to get rid of the gun and not to speak to police.
In June 2014 Dwayne Moore was convicted of second-degree murder of his stepfather Jimmy McClain, he was subsequently sentenced to 22 years without parole.
Catch this episode of Home Sweet Homicide at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery.