By Cheryl Smith
Texas Metro News
Some likened former Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins to a giant who walked with grace, and humility and as an equal with others in board- rooms, classrooms, court-rooms, and the streets.
He was found unresponsive on Tuesday and it was later confirmed by family and close friends that the man who put a system on trial had died. He was 56.
Texas State Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) said the David W. Carter High School graduate would be remembered as a “trailblazer and visionary.”
“Craig Watkins professionally served as the first African American District Attorney in Texas and Dallas County,” said West. “He established several programs such as the Prosecutorial Integrity Unit to review questionable convictions and worked to restore confidence in the office while diversifying its workforce with people of color.
Our condolences to his entire family.”
A Dallas native, Watkins was born on November 16, 1967. He earned his B.A. Degree in political science from Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas in 1990 and received his J.D. degree from the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth, Texas in 1994.
Business Executive Vincent Hall remembered Watkins growing up in Dallas. “I knew Craig as a young man because his father was my teacher, and we later worshipped at the same church together,” said Hall, a member of the DFW Airport Board. “His uncle Ted Watkins was an NAACP leader and he took that same route and role in the civil rights struggle in Dallas.”
Watkins attracted state, national, and international recognition for his work on reforming a justice system that contributed to the unlawful imprisonment of several wrongfully convicted citizens.
He served as district attorney from 2007 until 2015, during which time he was credited with securing a 99.4% conviction rate with a focus on prosecuting cases of child sexual abuse.
In 2017, Watkins appeared in HistoryMakers, telling how he worked to resolve cases of wrongful conviction through the use of DNA testing and the review of evidence illegally withheld from defense attorneys.
There was nothing braggadocious about his assertions as he shared a message of true justice.
The facts were clear as more and more, mostly men, were freed — the majority African American.
Noting that in 160 years, Dallas County had never had an African American district attorney, Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price said, “He brought a new and fresh perspective to public safety in Dallas.”
After serving, he returned to private practice in Sunny South Dallas.
Named Texan of the Year by The Dallas Morning News, he received numerous awards and traveled the country speaking truth to power and shining a light on injustices.
A member of Friendship-West Baptist Church, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., the Circle 10 Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and the Prairie View A&M Alumni Association; Watkins was a community servant-leader.
His fraternity’s local chapter posted the following message on social media platforms: “Please keep The Dallas Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity in prayer as we mourn the loss of our chapter brother, Craig Watkins, the 1st Black District Attorney in the state of Texas. Brother Watkins was a Spring ‘89 initiate of the Zeta Beta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.”
He loved his alma mater and his fraternity. You could expect the doors of his law office on Martin Luther King Blvd to be wide open during key festivities, including the King Day Parades and the State Fair Classic, as he provided food, fellowship, and music before crowds headed off to the Cotton Bowl to see the PVAMU Panthers take on the Grambling State Tigers.
Watkins is remembered for many reasons and many praised him for growing up in Dallas, going off to school, and coming home to make a difference in the lives of those in his community and wherever injustice reared its ugly head.
Funeral arrangements were pending at press time.
