A New York Judge Who Was Found In The Hudson River Appeared To Have Committed Suicide.

Well there’s an update on The Honorable Mrs. Sheila Abdus-Salaam. Y’all remember? She was an associate judge on the New York Court of Appeals who was found dead in the Hudson River on Wednesday. She was the first black woman to be appointed to a seat on New York’s highest court. Anyway…..I cried FOUL PLAY after hearing about a judge floating in a body of water. But according to the medical examiners, this death will be ruled a suicide.

According to investigators, there were no signs of foul play and no visible bruises on the body. Judge Abdus-Salaam had also been suffering from depression and had lost her Mom and brother to suicide within the last five years.

Here’s more from the New York Daily News.

“A pioneering state judge found floating in the Hudson River likely took her own life after a recent battle with depression, a police source said Thursday.

State Court of Appeals Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam began taking medication for her darkening moods just a few weeks before her apparent suicide, a well-placed court source told the Daily News.

Police investigating the judge’s disappearance found her meds, according to the court source.

It was unclear if Abdus-Salaam left behind a suicide note, and cops were awaiting the results of an autopsy before saying anything more, the police source told The News.

“There are no apparent injuries to her body,” said NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce. “It appears to be non-criminal … There is no apparent trauma. No physical abnormality at all.”

The Medical Examiner’s office announced the cause and manner of the judge’s death required additional investigation. An autopsy was conducted Thursday.

The judge’s body was found floating along the Hudson River shoreline at W. 132nd St. around 2 p.m. Wednesday, clad in gym attire and sneakers.

A 911 call alerted cops to the corpse spotted about a mile from Abdus-Salaam’s Harlem home. Boyce said she was carrying a MetroCard last used Monday in a 42nd St. subway station.

Detectives were searching the judge’s neighborhood for video footage that might explain what happened to Abdus-Salaam.

The 65-year-old jurist, hailed as the first black woman appointed to the state’s highest court, was reported missing by her husband on Tuesday morning.

Her spouse, Rev. Gregory Jacobs, declined comment when approached by The News outside his Newark home. The couple each owned their own home.

The shocking disappearance and discovery of her body rattled her many friends and colleagues across the state.

“I just saw her on the subway the other day,” said former Harlem Assemblyman Keith Wright. “She was always a very calming, beautiful presence … She became one of the brightest and most respected legal minds in the U.S.”

The court source said Abdus-Salaam appeared lighthearted as she laughed with colleagues last week at an annual lawyers luncheon.

Abdus-Salaam was nominated by Gov. Cuomo in 2013 for a seat on the state’s Court of Appeals, the high point of a legal career that began with her Columbia University School of Law degree.

Among her classmates: Future U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

She served as a Manhattan Supreme Court judge for 14 years before Cuomo’s promotion. The governor praised Abdus-Salaam for her “unshakable moral compass.”

Harlem neighbor Pat Miller, 56, couldn’t accept the idea that Abdus-Salaam took her own life.

“I could not imagine her doing anything to herself to harm herself,” he said. “She’s not that type of person … I’d like to know what happened. I would really like to know.”

My heart goes out to Judge Salaam’s husband, family, colleagues, and friends. Some people who knew Sheila, like her neighbor Ms. Miller, want the death to be investigated more because they just don’t believe that the judge would take her life. Depression is REAL though, and it can alter your mind radically. Maybe Judge Salaam was calming because she had accepted her fate and she was ready to go somewhere better. Losing two close family members to suicide recently may have contributed to the severity of her illness too.

Another thing to note? People who suffer from depression usually attempt suicide right before their birthday. Judge Sheila Salaam would have turned 66 on May 6th.

Rest in peace Judge. Hopefully you have received it.