On New Year’s Eve, a Georgia state court judge died inside a courthouse from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, with authorities tentatively deeming the death a suicide.
On December 31, Georgia authorities announced that Effingham County Judge Stephen Yekel had passed away at 74 years old inside a courthouse. In a press release shared on Facebook, the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) revealed that Yekel was found “dead, from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, in a courtroom inside of the Effingham County Courthouse Tuesday morning around 10 a.m.”
According to investigators, Yekel either passed away late on Monday or early on Tuesday.
The potential suicide is being investigated by the ECSO’s Criminal Investigation Department, while the autopsy will be performed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
It was unclear why Yekel was in the courthouse at the time of his apparent suicide, as he was not scheduled to be in court on Tuesday despite it being his last day in office after losing his reelection bid, according to local news station WTOC. He had spent two years serving as the state court judge and had a judicial career spanning more than 40 years.
Speaking with reporters about the incident, ECSO Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie revealed that Yekel had sent a letter of resignation to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) the week before his death — which was strange considering the fact that he was already leaving office after losing his reelection. However, Kemp’s office did not accept Yekel’s resignation. Some reports have indicated that Yekel’s resignation would had forced Kemp to appoint a new judge to fill his position, which would have nullified the results of the election that Yekel lost.
Meanwhile, other reports indicated that Yekel’s alleged suicide may have had something to do with him allegedly speaking out about corruption and a “long standing conspiracy” within the courthouse.
🚨🚨🚨JUDGE CALLED OUT POSSIBLE CORRUPTION, FOUND DEAD IN COURT ON LAST DAY IN OFFICE🚨🚨🚨
Georgia Judge Stephen Yekel – who shot himself Tuesday in his court room – called out a “long standing conspiracy” within the courthouse. Now he supposedly killed himself? pic.twitter.com/gt4E7ANelC
— The Nicolas Bowling Show (@NicoBowling) January 1, 2025
McDuffie also explained during the press conference that he was not aware of any lawsuits against Yekel, although one of Yekel’s former assistants has alleged that a lawsuit did exist. McDuffie then noted that he had looked into whether there were any charges against Yekel, but none were found.
The sheriff also expressed his condolences to Yekel’s family, stating: “This is never good for anybody. The family is distraught, I mean, it’s supposed to be a happy time this time of the year, and now they’ve got this.”
