A choose was discovered useless in a Georgia courtroom on what was to have been his final day on the job, authorities mentioned Tuesday.

Effingham County Sheriff’s deputies discovered State Courtroom Decide Stephen Yekel, 74, on Tuesday morning. He seems to have died by suicide, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.

Yekel, who was appointed to the bench two years in the past by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, misplaced his election bid earlier this 12 months. His time period was scheduled to finish Dec. 31, 2024.

“The household’s distraught,” Effingham County Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie advised reporters Tuesday. “It’s speculated to be a contented time this time of 12 months and now they’ve received this.”

McDuffie mentioned considered one of his deputies found Yekel’s physique after authorities have been dispatched to the courthouse on a report of a potential suicide at 10:20 a.m. It seems Yekel could have died Monday night time, he mentioned.

Courtroom was not in session Tuesday, the sheriff mentioned, including that Yekel’s post-mortem will probably be performed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Yekel was admitted to the state bar on June 14, 1976, and was in good standing on the time of his dying, bar information present.

He presided over preliminary prison issues and different circumstances in Springfield, roughly 26 miles north of Savannah.

In a Dec. 2 letter to Kemp, Yekel pointed to his failed election effort and requested to resign, a replica of the be aware reveals. Yekel received the preliminary spherical of voting in Could however misplaced in a runoff.

Yekel requested for the efficient date of his resignation to be Dec. 30, in the future earlier than the top of his time period, a replica of the be aware reveals.

“I really feel that the workplace of State Courtroom Decide of Effingham is simply too essential to be determined by solely 6% of the eligible voters of Effingham County,” he mentioned.

Kemp rejected his request, saying the outcomes of a good election “shouldn’t be nullified on the idea of manufactured authorized technicality.”

A spokesperson for Kemp declined to touch upon the investigation, citing an open investigation, however mentioned “Decide Yekel’s household and family members are in all our ideas and prayers throughout this tough time.”

If you happen to or somebody you realize is in disaster, name or textual content 988 to achieve the Suicide and Disaster Lifeline or chat reside at 988lifeline.org. You can too go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/assets for extra assist.

Tim Stelloh

Tim Stelloh is a breaking information reporter for NBC Information Digital.