Judge Stephen Yekel died by suicide while inside a county courtroom where he was slated to serve his last day on the bench on Tuesday.
An Effingham County sheriff’s deputy found Yekel’s body inside the courtroom at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday after Yekel used a firearm to kill himself, WSAV reported.
Court officials said Yekel likely shot himself during the overnight hours.
Yekel lost his re-election bid in June and on Dec. 6 submitted a letter of resignation, but Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp refused to accept Yekel’s resignation and his suggestion that a nullification of the results might be in order.
Yekel’s letter of resignation designated Dec. 30 as his last day on the bench, the Effingham Heraldreported.
“I feel that the office of State Court Judge of Effingham County is too important to be decided by only 6% of eligible voters in Effingham County,” Yekel said in his resignation letter.
Kemp did not accept the low voter turnout as cause for nullifying the election result.
“Regardless of the low turnout for this year’s runoff election, the people of Effingham County have spoken,” Kemp said in a Dec. 12 response.
“The results of a fair election should not be nullified on the basis of a manufactured legal technicality,” Kemp said.
Yekel lost a runoff election on June 18 to challenger Melissa Calhoun, who received 1,407 votes to Yekel’s 1,088. Only 2,886 of 46,188 registered voters cast ballots in the runoff election.
Chief Judge F. Gates Peed closed the courthouse for the remainder of the day Tuesday and said normal courthouse hours will resume on Thursday. All county offices likewise closed at noon.
The county sheriff’s department is investigating the matter, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation conducts an autopsy.
Effingham County is located 30 miles northwest of Savannah, Ga.
