DA Susan Hawk To Personally Try Murder Case

Dallas County District Attorney Susan Hawk will personally try a murder case this week.

The decision comes as she tries to affirm her credibility after returning from depression treatment and in the face of a lawsuit that seeks to remove her from office.

Mrs. Hawk’s personal involvement in the case also represents an effort to circle back to the promises she made when she first became DA in January.

She vowed to hold regular meetings with the public and to try a case herself.

She held a town hall meeting Monday night, her third one of the year and her first since returning from treatment. About 12 hours after it ended, she was in state District Judge Don Adams’ court Tuesday morning to choose a jury in the murder trial of Quavize Lejuante Jones.

Jones, 29, is accused of killing his girlfriend, Marietta Shaw, last year while her 3-year-old and 4-month-old children were home. He faces up between five and 99 years in prison.

Hawk will sit second chair during his murder trial. Which means she led jury selection Tuesday and will question witnesses during trial testimony, which started Wednesday.

It’s unconventional for the head of a major DA’s office to personally try a routine case said former state District Judge Vickers Cunningham, “It has not happened in DallasCounty in 30 years that I know of,”

Cunningham made early campaign appearances for Hawk.