Longtime north Mississippi District Attorney John Champion passed away at his home in Senatobia on Sunday, Sept. 4.
Champion, 61, was appointed chief prosecutor for a five-county circuit including Desoto, Tate, Panola, Tallahatchie and Yalobusha Counties in 2001, and repeatedly won reelection to the post.
Champion was hired as an assistant district attorney in 1993 after graduating from University of Mississippi Law School. He was appointed district attorney by Gov. Ronnie Musgrove in November 2001 after Musgrove named then-District Attorney Ann Lamar of Senatobia to the bench. Lamar would eventually become a state Supreme Court justice.
Champion oversaw all cases throughout the 17th Circuit Court District and monitored caseloads of assistant district attorneys for over 20 years.
The current 17th District will be split in January 2023, with former Assistant District Attorney Jay Hale of Senatobia, who is currently with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, taking the reins in Panola, Tallahatchie, Tate and Yalobusha counties while Champion would have prosecuted cases solely in DeSoto County. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves will appoint a successor to Champion.
“We are obviously devastated,” Hale said of Champion’s passing. “He was one of the good ones. I owe my career to him because he took a chance years ago on a 26-year kid fresh out of law school.”
Champion was born July 22, 1961, in Jackson, Miss., to William M. and Annette Champion. After graduating from Oxford High School, he earned his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Mississippi.
Champion is survived by his mother, Annette Johnston Champion of Oxford; daughters, Brittney Champion and her wife, Courtney McCullar of Senatobia, and Kelli Champion of Atlanta, Ga.; sister, Laura C. Hall of Atlanta, Ga.; grandchildren, Brittani Champion and Zofia Champion; three nieces, Sara Hall, Annette Hall, and Grace Hall; and one nephew, Jackson Hall.
Funeral services for Champion were held Friday, Sept. 9, at Oxford-University United Methodist Church followed by burial in Oxford Memorial Cemetery.
Expressions of sympathy or memorial contributions in Champion’s memory can be made to the American Stroke Foundation, 6405 Metcalf Avenue, Suite 214, Overland Park, KS 66202 or online at https://americanstroke.org/donate/, or to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 42040, Oklahoma City, OK 73123 or online at https://www.cancer.org/.
