Craig Marcus Watkins (November 16, 1967 – December 12, 2023) was an American lawyer who was the

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

for

Dallas County, Texas Dallas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 2,613,539, and was estimated to be 2,656,028 in 2024, making it the List of counties in Texas, second-most populo ...

from 2007 to 2015. He became the first elected African-American district attorney in Texas when he was elected in 2006.

Education

Craig Marcus Watkins was born in Dallas on November 16, 1967. A 1986 graduate of David W. Carter High School of

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Watkins graduated from

Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas, United States. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two lan ...

in 1990 with a B.A. degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. In 1994, he received a J.D. degree as part of the 1994 inaugural graduating class of the

Texas Wesleyan University School of Law Texas A&M University School of Law is the law school of Texas A&M University located in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. Established in 1989 as the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, it was formerly the law school of Texas Wesleyan University unt ...

. He was also a member of the

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, it has n ...

fraternity.

Career

Watkins began his legal career working in the offices of the

city attorney and the Dallas County Public Defender's office and later went into private practice. In 2002, Watkins ran for district attorney against incumbent Republican Bill Hill and lost. Watkins won the 2006 district attorney election over prosecutor Toby Shook in an election cycle that saw Democrats every elected office on the ballot, including all judicial seats. The official biography of Watkins written by his office writes that Watkins secured a 99.4% conviction rate and focused on prosecuting cases of

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...

. Watkins created the first Conviction Integrity Unit in the nation resulting in 35 wrongfully convicted individuals being freed under his administration. Watkins worked to resolve cases of

wrongful conviction A miscarriage of justice occurs when an unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Innocent ...

through the use of

DNA testing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

and the review of evidence illegally withheld from defense attorneys. On January 4, 2011,

Ray Suarez Rafael Suarez, Jr. (born March 5, 1957), known as Ray Suarez, is an American broadcast journalist and author. He is currently host of the PBS series "Wisdom Keepers" set to premiere on the public network in June 2025. He was a visiting professor ...

interviewed Watkins live on the ''

PBS NewsHour ''PBS News Hour'', previously stylized as ''PBS NewsHour'', is the news division of PBS and an American daily evening news broadcasting#television, television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS Network affiliate#Member stations, member stat ...

'' for the exoneration by Watkins's office of Cornelius Dupree from Dupree's armed robbery conviction. Upon leaving office, Watkins entered private practice focusing on criminal defense and personal injury in state and federal courts. The ''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'' selected Watkins as its 2008 Texan of the Year. Watkins was a member of The National Trial Lawyers Association, The Texas Trial Lawyers Association and The Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. Public records indicate that Watkins' annual salary as of May 2012 was $200,000. In the 2014 election, Watkins was defeated by former Judge Susan Hawk, a Republican.

Personal life and death

Watkins and his wife, Tanya, had three children. He died at his home in Dallas on December 12, 2023, at the age of 56.

References

External links

*
Watkins interview on ''PBS NewsHour''
about the exoneration of Cornelius Dupree {{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Craig 1967 births 2023 deaths County district attorneys in Texas Texas Democrats Lawyers from Dallas Prairie View A&M University alumni Texas Wesleyan University alumni Texas A&M University School of Law alumni 21st-century African-American lawyers 20th-century African-American lawyers

Education

Career

Personal life and death

See also

References

External links