First African-American and the first Woman Prosecutor in Wayne County (Detroit)
/FIRST BLACK PROSECUTOR, WAYNE COUNTY (DETROIT)
KYM WORTHY is the first African-American and the first woman to become the Wayne County (Detroit) prosecutor -- Michigan's largest county. Appointed by the 63-member bench of the Wayne County Circuit Court, Worthy takes the top office after nine years as a judge in the Detroit Recorder's Court. Before becoming a judge, Worthy served for 12 years as an assistant prosecutor and became the first African-American special assignment prosecutor in Wayne County, where she tried over 800 cases, including capital cases. In her new role, she is pressing a national gun violence initiative, Change in Culture, to address the murder rate in Detroit. She also wants to establish an Elder Abuse Unit. Worthy earned a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from the University of Michigan and a law degree from the University of Notre Dame. She is the daughter of retired Army Colonel Clifford Worthy Jr., the first African-American in Michigan to graduate from West Point. She lives in Detroit with her daughter, Anastasia.
- Originally published in Ebony, August 2004
KYM WORTHY is the first African-American and the first woman to become the Wayne County (Detroit) prosecutor -- Michigan's largest county. Appointed by the 63-member bench of the Wayne County Circuit Court, Worthy takes the top office after nine years as a judge in the Detroit Recorder's Court. Before becoming a judge, Worthy served for 12 years as an assistant prosecutor and became the first African-American special assignment prosecutor in Wayne County, where she tried over 800 cases, including capital cases. In her new role, she is pressing a national gun violence initiative, Change in Culture, to address the murder rate in Detroit. She also wants to establish an Elder Abuse Unit. Worthy earned a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from the University of Michigan and a law degree from the University of Notre Dame. She is the daughter of retired Army Colonel Clifford Worthy Jr., the first African-American in Michigan to graduate from West Point. She lives in Detroit with her daughter, Anastasia.
