Judge Stephen Yekel, 74, was found dead on Tuesday in his own courtroom

Summary

Judge Stephen Yekel, 74, died by suicide in his courtroom on his last day in office after losing a re-election bid.

He was found Tuesday morning at Effingham County State Courthouse, with investigators believing the incident occurred late Monday or early Tuesday.

Yekel, appointed in 2022, had recently attempted to resign but was denied by Governor Brian Kemp.

He was also facing a wrongful termination lawsuit from a former court employee.

  • @[email protected]English
    8•7 days ago

    There’s a mile of broad daylight between cheering a suicide and just not saying anything at all.

    Suicide isn’t something to make fun of. Despite who falls victim to it. I shouldn’t have to explain this to an adult.

    • @[email protected]
      7•7 days ago

      Lately, I’ve been seriously questioning the number of adults on Lemmy. Undecided if it matters. But I definitely roll my eyes at a few comments and downvotes.

      • Flying Squid
        3•7 days ago

        This thread in particular is starting to scare the fuck out of me. If you look at the modlog, someone got their comment deleted for saying that judges deserve to be raped and murdered.

        Edit: We’ll add the person who responded to me just now implying that forum moderators also deserve to be murdered. But hey, there’s no underlying sickness here or anything.