Viola Davis Developing TV Show Around Life of Wayne Prosecutor Kym Worthy

“Conviction,” a new television series based on the real-life story of Wayne County’s no-nonsense prosecutor, Kym Worthy, is in the works, according to the Deadline Hollywood website.

Actress Viola Davis, who stars in ABC’s hit drama “How to Get Away with Murder,” and her producing partner Julius Tennon are teaming with producer Debra Martin Chase for the hour-long legal drama about a strong female attorney. Chase’s credits include “Sparkle,” shot in Detroit and based on the life of Whitney Houston.

Worthy, known as the “toughest woman in Detroit,” is a consultant on the project. Executive producers Kim Swann and Leah Keith are reportedly developing several other projects with Worthy, including one developing Worthy’s book, “A Rented Life,” into a feature.

Worthy declined requests for comments by the Detroit Free Press.

As a prosecutor, she has taken down some of Detroit’s most corrupt politicians, including former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and she has teamed with “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” actress Mariska Hargitay earlier this year to bring attention to 11,000 untested rape kits abandoned in a Detroit police warehouse.

That unflinching approach to justice has earned Worthy a solid reputation as a fearless and dogged prosecutor in Wayne County’s court system throughout her tenure. She began her legal career with the prosecutor’s office in 1984 after graduating from law school, served as a judge, and then, in 2004, became the first African-American and female to serve as Wayne County prosecutor.

Related:

• Kym Worthy: Untested Rape Kits Illustrate Funding Crisis
• Detroit Discovers At Least 100 Serial Rapists AFter It Finally Gets Around to Processing Thousands of Rape Kits