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.
I’m just going to start replying with this link rather than explain why I know from personal experience that this encourages others to kill themselves:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines
Idk if a judge offing himself because he lost his election bid would inspire many copy cats. His life wasn’t ruined, it probably would’ve been if he hadn’t died. But he didn’t want to wait to find out apparently.
What inspires people is seeing other people mocking a suicide victim and thinking, “see? This is what happens. No one cares if you live or die.”