{"id":1511335,"date":"2025-01-02T15:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T20:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1511335"},"modified":"2025-01-02T15:25:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T20:25:00","slug":"georgia-judge-found-dead-in-courthouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/georgia-judge-found-dead-in-courthouse\/1511335\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia Judge Found Dead In Courthouse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Georgia Judge Found Dead In Courthouse<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Caden Pearson via The Epoch Times<\/a> (emphasis ours),<\/em><\/p>\n

A state court judge in Georgia was found dead in a county courtroom on Tuesday morning from a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound<\/strong>, according to a local sheriff.<\/p>\n

A judges gavel rests on top of a desk in a courtroom in Miami, Florida, on Feb. 3, 2009. Joe Raedle\/Getty Images<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Judge Stephen Yekel, 74, of the Effingham County State Court was discovered by a sheriff\u2019s deputy in the courthouse between 10:00 and 10:30 a.m<\/strong>. The court was not in session at the time of the incident.<\/p>\n

Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie said initial evidence suggests Yekel likely took his own life the previous night.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a note sent to the governor\u2019s office<\/strong>,\u201d McDuffie said during a press briefing, though he said details about the note\u2019s contents were still being investigated. A copy of the note has reportedly been circulating on social media, but authorities have not verified its authenticity.<\/p>\n

Yekel, appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp in June 2022, served as a state court judge for nearly two years.<\/p>\n

Yekel recently attempted to resign<\/a> from his position after losing a re-election bid, but Kemp did not accept<\/a> the resignation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his Dec. 6 resignation letter to Kemp, Yekel said he would resign on Dec. 30. In response, Kemp wrote on Dec. 12, \u201cYour resignation is not effective unless and until I accept it … I must decline to do so.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we are unable to provide comment on an open investigation, Judge Yekel\u2019s family and loved ones are in all our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time<\/strong>,\u201d Kemp\u2019s office told WSAV News 3.<\/p>\n

McDuffie extended his condolences to the Yekel family, adding that the tragedy has deeply affected the local legal community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is never good for anybody,\u201d McDuffie said. \u201cThe family is distraught. It\u2019s supposed to be a happy time of year, and now they\u2019ve got this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Effingham County Sheriff\u2019s Office is leading the investigation into Yekel\u2019s death, with assistance from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) for the autopsy.<\/p>\n

The Effingham County Board of Commissioners released a statement<\/a> mourning Yekel\u2019s death and announced resources for county staff affected by the tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Effingham County Board of Commissioners and staff are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Judge Steve Yekel at the Effingham County Courthouse today, and we offer our condolences to his family and loved ones,\u201d the statement posted on Facebook reads.<\/p>\n

A crisis response team has been made available at the Effingham County Administrative Complex, with additional support services offered to employees in the coming days.<\/p>\n

The Epoch Times contacted Kemp\u2019s office for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nThu, 01\/02\/2025 – 10:25<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/georgia-judge-found-dead-courthouse<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Georgia Judge Found Dead In Courthouse Authored by Caden Pearson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A state court judge in Georgia was found dead…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1511336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1511335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1511335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1511335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1511335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1511336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1511335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1511335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1511335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}