Dallas jury finds man not guilty at his third capital murder trial in the same slaying

A Dallas County jury found a man not guilty of capital murder Friday after his two previous trials in the case ended in mistrials.

Lacorius “Cori” Hawkins was accused in the fatal 2021 shooting of 20-year-old Christion Washington. He was found dead in his West Dallas apartment the day after Hawkins visited him at the complex, and authorities alleged Hawkins robbed Washington during the killing.

The case is one of several that have gone or are expected to go to trial after The Dallas Morning News brought to light police storage problems and it was revealed in another trial for a high-profile murder case that evidence was missing or deleted.

Hawkins’ case is one of at least 15 that The News identified as having deleted evidence after Dallas police opened a review into about 450 pending homicide cases to look for missing evidence. Police confirmed last month that their audit was completed, but the department declined to release their findings. The status of hundreds of other cases remains unclear.

Hawkins’ first mistrial occurred when a jury said they were hopelessly deadlocked and could not reach a unanimous decision. The second trial ended prematurely in March after lawyers learned police or prosecutors hadn’t turned over more than 200 videos.

After the verdict, Washington’s aunt hugged Hawkins’ mother outside the courtroom. Washington’s aunt, Jacqueline Jennings told Hawkins’ mom, Nickeva Hawkins, that regardless of the verdict, justice wouldn’t be served for Washington.

Defense attorney Erin Kelley said after the verdict that she doesn’t know who lost the footage, which she received before this week’s trial. But she said 83 other dash-cam videos, which she said she believes are from police vehicles that responded to the scene, were deleted.

Kelley said it was difficult to bring out the missing evidence at trial because she was not allowed to speak about prior trials, which would have prejudiced the jury. She could only mention “late disclosure,” she said.

If found guilty of capital murder, Hawkins would have automatically been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Kelley said she was happy for Hawkins’ family to receive a not guilty verdict, but also sad for Washington’s family who did not receive the closure of having a killer identified and brought to justice.

Prosecutors argued the evidence pointed to Hawkins as the killer and told the jury he lied to police about what he did when he visited Washington. They said Hawkins saw an opportunity to “make a quick buck.” Authorities alleged he stole cash, drugs and a gun, which according to testimony was not recovered.

Defense attorneys told the jury the case was clouded by “sloppy police work, circumstantial evidence, tunnel vision.” They said Hawkins was unlucky to be one of the last people to see Washington, a known drug dealer. Police should’ve considered other suspects, they said, and the case had “investigative failures” lacking forensic evidence.

Hawkins, a father of two, is seen insisting to detectives in a police video shown to jurors that he didn’t kill Washington, who he called a friend. Detectives testified his police interviews raised “red flags,” and along with other evidence, he was considered the suspect.

Staff Writer Kelli Smith contributed to this report.