Craig Watkins, former Dallas County District Attorney, dies at 56

Craig Watkins, former Dallas County District Attorney known for his work overturning wrongful convictions, died Tuesday, a representative for his family confirmed to The Dallas Morning News. He was 56.

Watkins took office in 2007 after defeating longtime defense attorney Toby Shook, making him the first Black district attorney in Texas. He rode a blue wave into office along with all other Democrats who swept courthouse elections and won re-election once before he lost to former judge Susan Hawk, a Republican, in 2014.

During his time in office, he created the conviction integrity unit and allowed DNA testing in cases where his predecessor fought it, leading to several exonerations. Investigation Discovery created a show about the unit and Dallas County’s exonerees called Dallas DNA.

Watkins frequently said in office that it was a prosecutor’s job to “seek justice,” not convictions.

He was personally conflicted about the death penalty, but still sought it. For his first six years in office, from 2007 to 2013, he sent more defendants to death row than any other district attorney in the state. Historically, Harris County, which includes Houston, has sent more, but during that period, Dallas County sent 12 to death row while Harris County sent nine.

In 2012, Watkins, without offering more details, revealed his great-grandfather was executed by the state. He made the statement unprompted after a hearing to exonerate Richard Miles, who was wrongly convicted of murder.

His great-grandfather, Richard Johnson, was executed on Aug. 10, 1932. An Associated Press story from October 1931 published in The News said that Johnson was sentenced to death after a jury deliberated for 40 minutes in the murder of a Fort Worth man, Ted Nodurft. The murder occurred just more than a month before the trial.

Johnson was the father of Watkins’ grandmother, Myretha Clark.

When asked if she thought what happened to her father had driven her grandson to seek to one day become Dallas’ top prosecutor and work to free the innocent, Clark said she was too emotional to discuss it.

“I’ll have to talk to you later because I’m just too upset,” she said.

Later that month, Watkins witnessed the execution of George Rivas, the ringleader of a band of prison escapees who killed an Irving police officer during a robbery. He left the witness room without commenting.

After leaving office, Watkins went into private practice as a defense attorney.

The News chose Watkins for Texan of the Year in 2008.

This is a developing story. Check dallasnews.com for updates.