In August 2022, a lower-court judge granted James Covington’s request to change his first name to Jamauri. He told the court that he had “worked hard in my quest to correct my wrong doings” and was seeking a “fresh start” after having been sentenced to prison for 30 years to life for murdering his lover, Debra Dunce. The state filed a request to overturn the decision, arguing that he had not provided a compelling or necessary reason for the name change.