A woman who was killed in Washington will finally see justice. Courtney Clinton was found murdered in November 2024, and now, it will hopefully only be a few more weeks before her accused killer faces a judge. The mother of three had her youngest child with her in the car at the time of her death, but thankfully the little one was unharmed. Nearly six months after her death, police believed they had found the person who slit Clinton’s throat. But there was one problem: He was already facing charges in another state. Now, he is finally being sent back to Washington, charged with her murder.
The discovery was made in the early morning.
On November 1, 2024, about 4:30 a.m., officers from the Vancouver Police Department responded to a report of a dead woman in her car, they announced in a news release. When they arrived at the scene, they found a small child in the car who was unharmed. Detectives began investigating the killing as a homicide on November 7, an update read.
The victim was identified as 31-year-old Courtney Valencia Clinton by the Clark County medical examiner on November 7, 2024, KOIN reported. According to the medical examiner’s report, she was “assaulted by another person” that left her with “incised wounds of the neck.”
“Courtney was known for her immense love and generosity, always willing to lend a helping hand or offer a listening ear to those around her,” her family shared in a GoFundMe account set up for funeral costs and her children.
A suspect in Clinton’s death was charged with her murder in 2025.
On April 13, 2025, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky shared a press release identifying the suspect as Dariel Nunez-Montero.
“Our Deputies learned through that investigation that Montero was the prime suspect in a murder, committed in Washington State, in late 2024,” the release read. Their deputies worked alongside the Vancouver (Washington) Police Department Major Crimes Unit, and in partnership with the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, authorities obtained a search warrant that allowed investigators to gather critical evidence.
According to a news release from the City of Vancouver, a felony warrant was issued in Clark County Superior Court on April 11, 2025, for the arrest of Nunez-Montero on a first-degree murder charge.
“You’re thinking that when this person gets caught that, you’re gonna feel way different, but … nothing is ever going to bring her back,” Clinton’s aunt, Dawnetta Farlow, told KPTV.
She was missing for several days before her body was found.
A man found Clinton’s body and assumed she “had been shot in the back of the head” because there was “a lot of blood,” according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law & Crime,
The last time Clinton was seen alive was on October 29, 2024. Police investigators said she sent a friend her location at 3:38 a.m., which showed she was at the Walnut Grove Apartments, which is where Nunez-Montero allegedly lived at the time.
Nunez-Montero was reportedly captured on a doorbell camera leaving his apartment at 3:31 a.m. October 29 with a woman resembling Clinton carrying a baby carrier. A friend of hers told investigators that the mother was “known to meet men through social media” and posted on escort websites.
The affidavit states that Nunez-Montero’s DNA was found on the front passenger door of Clinton’s SUV. DNA was found under her fingernails, but prosecutors have not said who it belonged to.
Nunez-Montero will soon be extradited to Washington.
He was involved in a large-scale diesel theft operation in Kentucky that had losses of more than $18,000, KOIN reported. He pleaded guilty to engaging in organized crime.
A spokesperson from the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney told KOIN that Nunez-Montero’s case in Kentucky has been resolved. He’s now expected to be extradited back to Washington in regard to Clinton’s case, although the process will take several weeks.
