Father of Six-Year-Old Sandy Hook Victim Found Dead
Police say the body of Jeremy Richman was found in apparent suicide
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The father of a six-year-old girl who was killed in the tragic Sandy Hook shooting in 2012 has been found dead, according to reports.
Police say the body of Jeremy Richman was found in his office building on Monday in what seems to be an apparent suicide.
Richman's daughter, Avielle Richman, was one of the children killed when gunman Adam Lanza opened fire at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Police confirmed that Richman was dead when first responders arrived.
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According to Newtown Police statement:
"The death appears to be a suicide, but police will not disclose the method or any other details of the death, only to state the death does not appear to be suspicious."
Richman, who was a mental health advocate, had two more children with his wife Jennifer Hensel following the death of his daughter.
His body was taken to the Connecticut State Medical Examiner's office for an autopsy.
"This is a heartbreaking event for the Richman family and the Newtown Community as a whole, the police department's prayers are with the Richman family right now, and we ask that the family be given privacy in this most difficult time," Police Lt. Aaron Bahamonde said.
Richman founded violence prevention charity, Avielle Foundation, with his wife in the wake of their daughter's death.
The Foundation, which was launched in the months following the tragedy, aimed to tackle violence and to conduct brain research to examine what causes violent tendencies.
Richman gave up his full time as a researcher at the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim to focus on the foundation.
The psychiatry department at the Yale School of Medicine in 2016 honored Richman and Hensel for their work.
My god. This is awful, horrible, devastating news. Jeremy was a good friend and an unceasing advocate for better research into the brain’s violence triggers. He was with me in my office two weeks ago, excited as could be about the Avielle Foundation’s latest amazing work. https://t.co/xhy89JlXG8
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) March 25, 2019
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"The brain is just another organ, and you don't have to be a neuroscientist to recognize that it can be healthy, it can be unhealthy, and that you need to feel comfortable advocating for your own brain health and the brain health of your loved ones," Richman said back in 2016.
"We feel that the failure to do that led in large part to the tragedy at Sandy Hook."
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who has pushed stricter gun laws since the shooting, tweeted:
'My god. This is awful, horrible, devastating news. Jeremy was a good friend and an unceasing advocate for better research into the brain’s violence triggers. He was with me in my office two weeks ago, excited as could be about the Avielle Foundation’s latest amazing work.'
Richman's death is one of three int h space of week relating to school shooting massacres.
Survivor of Florida shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Sydney Aiello, committed suicide last week.
A second student at the same school committed suicide on Saturday.
