Gaynelle Griffin Jones (November 20, 1948 – March 1, 2013) was an American jurist and lawyer who was the former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.[3]
She was born in Dallas, Texas and graduated from A. J. Moore High School.[4] Jones received her bachelor's degree from Emerson College and her J.D. degree from Boston College Law School. In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed Jones as United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. She was the first African-American woman to serve in that position.
Before her appointment as U.S. Attorney, Jones was also the first African-American woman to serve on the First Court of the Texas Courts of Appeals. In later years, she worked as litigation counsel for Hewlett-Packard Company and was an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law School.[5][6]
She practiced law for forty years in Massachusetts, Louisiana, and Texas specializing in corporate law and criminal law.[4]
She was married to Robert Jones and had a daughter named Athena.[4]
She died on March 1, 2013, aged 64, in Houston, Texas, from cancer.[4]