Shelby County’s notoriously soft-on-crime district attorney announced several new hires that he says will make his office more diverse.
“I’m proud to announce that the [Shelby County District Attorney]‘s office has added six new attorneys to the team: Ernest Brooks, II, Denania Galloway, Melanie Headely, Kindle Nance, and Krysa Scully will join the office as Assistant District Attorneys. Jessica Indingaro will serve as Special Assistant for Projects & Government Relations. All will start between now and mid-November,” said District Attorney Steve Mulroy on Twitter.
Ernest Brooks, II, Denania Galloway, Melanie Headely, Kindle Nance, and Krysa Scully will join the office as Assistant District Attorneys.
Jessica Indingaro will serve as Special Assistant for Projects & Government Relations.
All will start between now and mid-November. 2/4
— Steve Mulroy (@SteveMulroy901) October 14, 2022
“These attorneys represent a wide breadth of professional experience. Together, they bring our office closer to better representing the full diversity of our community. They include former prosecutors, former public defenders, and members of the private bar,” said Mulroy. “I’m honored to have them on our team so that we can continue to pursue our mission of holding violent criminals accountable, rebuilding the public’s trust, and administering equal justice to all.”
I'm honored to have them on our team so that we can continue to pursue our mission of holding violent criminals accountable, rebuilding the public’s trust, and administering equal justice to all. 4/4
— Steve Mulroy (@SteveMulroy901) October 14, 2022
Mulroy fired nine people to make room for his more diverse new team roster. Seven of them were attorneys, though he did not name them.
“I will say that seven attorneys were let go out of 115, and an equal number have now been hired,” Mulroy reportedly said.
Mulroy isn’t finished with the new hires.
“We’re finishing up another batch of final rounds of interviews,” he reportedly said. “And I suspect we’ll be able to announce another sort of equally large batch of attorney hires within a week or two.”
Mulroy, who took over the job earlier this year, ran his campaign on “criminal justice reform.”
“Every year Amy Weirich has been in office, violent crime has gone up,” he said in a Facebook post in February, with an accompanying campaign speech. “She will say we can’t try reform, because we must keep people safe. I say what she’s doing, ain’t working. We Need Reform.”
“When Amy Weirich took office, violent crime was going down,” he said. “Every single year for the last 10 years she’s been in office, violent crime has been going up – to the point where now we’re number one, not in the state – number one in the nation for violent crime per capita.”
“Now, is that all her fault?” he asked rhetorically. “No. I want to be honest about that. It’s a complex process. But when she says we can’t try reform because we’ve got to keep people safe, I say ‘you ain’t been keeping us safe.’” For the last 10 years, we haven’t been safe. We need change. We need something new.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “D.A. Steve Mulroy” by D.A. Steve Mulroy.
