The Body Of Sheila Abdus-Salaam, A Female African-American Judge, Has Been Found In The Hudson River

New York State associate judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam was found dead on Wednesday in the Hudson River. Abdus-Salaam made headlines as the first African-American female judge to serve in New York state. Authorities did not release a cause of death but did note that there were “no signs of criminality” according to the New York Times:

Officers with the New York Police Department’s Harbor Unit responded about 1:45 p.m. to a report of a person floating by the shore near West 132nd Street in Upper Manhattan. Judge Abdus-Salaam, 65, was taken to a pier on the Hudson River and was pronounced dead by paramedics shortly after 2 p.m.

The police were investigating how she ended up in the river, and it was not clear how long Judge Abdus-Salaam, who lived nearby in Harlem, had been missing. There were no signs of trauma on her body, the police said. She was fully clothed.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo released a statement on the judge’s passing, praising Adbus-Salaam for being “a trailblazing jurist whose life in public service was in pursuit of a more fair and more just New York for all.”

New York Law Journal spoke with many of her colleagues, finding an immense amount of respect for the late judge:

Veteran New York trial lawyer Robert Kelner, who first met Abdus-Salaam 20 years ago at a Columbia Law School event, called the judge “a brilliant person.”

“This was a person who really made an enormous effort to be a very down the middle jurist who would judge issues as it came to her,” Kelner said. “I don’t think she had a leaning toward one side or the other.”

Kelner said the judge’s personality at Columbia functions was “both serious and warm.” He added: “I don’t know anyone who would not have liked her.”

Authorities are currently investigating the death to determine what happened. A report by the New York Post claims her husband had reported her missing earlier in the day, and it “appeared to be a suicide.” A sad end to what appears to be a bright career.

(Via New York Times / New York Post / New York Law Journal)