To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. A judge is believed to have taken his own life after his final day on the job. Judge Stephen Yekel of the Effingham County state court in Springfield, Georgia, was found dead by a deputy on Tuesday morning.
Court was not in session on Tuesday, but it would have been his final day on the bench after losing his run for reelection earlier this year. Yekel was appointed to the state court position in June 2022. WSAV reports that he tried to resign, but his resignation was denied by Governor Brian Kemp, who originally appointed him to the role.
It’s understood a note was sent to Kemp’s office, but the contents of the message have not been published. Kemp’s office said in a statement: ‘While we are unable to provide comment on an open investigation, Judge Yekel’s family and loved ones are in all our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.’.
Yekel had worked as a lawyer in the area for more than 45 years, acting as a special agent for Georgia’s alcohol and tobacco tax unit and an investigator at the Cobb County district attorney’s office. He’d also previously worked as a former assistant district attourney in Chatham County.
