Lawmaker's 2nd Drunken Driving Arrest Results In Suicide: Reports

LANSING, MI — A Michigan state represented arrested Monday on a second drunken driving charge in two years has committed suicide, according to media reports. John Kivela, a Maquette Democrat, took his life at a home he owns in Lansing hours after he was released from jail Tuesday, authorities have confirmed.

Police said Kivela was “super drunk” under Michigan law when he was stopped Monday afternoon by sheriff’s deputies after numerous motorists on U.S-127 north of Lansing called to report an erratic driver, the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office said. Field sobriety tests showed Kivela’s blood alcohol content more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, police said.

Kivela was released from jail early Tuesday after posting a $500 bond.

A crime scene investigation unit was parked outside Kivela’s Chestnut Street home at midday Tuesday. The manner of his death was not disclosed by authorities.

A solemn atmosphere settled over the Michigan House as news of the lawmaker’s apparent suicide began to trickle in, the Detroit Free Press reported.

"This is probably the toughest day that we’ll experience this term,"Speaker of the House Tom Leonard, a DeWitt Republican, said. "I truly have no words about the loss of our dear friend John Kivela. As we go forward over the next couple of days, please keep his wife, Sandy, and his children in your prayers."

House Minority Leader Sam Singh, an East Lansing Democrat, said in a statement that he was "saddened" by Kivela's death.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Sandy, and his two children. He was a champion for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and a strong advocate for working people throughout Michigan," Singh wrote. "He was my friend, and I will miss him. We will always remember the impact that he made on this institution and the state of Michigan."

Several legislative colleagues praised Kivela as a unifier, including Rep. Andy Schor, a Lansing Democrat who served for five years with Kivela.

"He was someone who tried to bring us all together," Schor told The Detroit News. "This is just a tragedy. It’s tragic."

Schor said he will be haunted by Kivela's death because he hadn't had a chance to check in with him recently. Kivela had been in treatment of alcoholism, an issue he struggled with for several years. He also had been arrested under the Michigan super-drunk law in 2015, also in Clinton County, The Detroit News reported.

Schor isn't sure what happened Monday, telling the newspaper that he attended multiple receptions and events where his friend and colleague had refused alcohol.

“But I don’t know the last week or two what happened or what was going on. Clearly I missed it, others missed it, and getting pulled over last night must have been the tipping point,” Schor said.

State Sen. David Knezek, a Dearborn Heights Democrat, was a roommate in Kivela's house on Chestnut Street. They talked on Tuesday morning, Knezek wrote on Facebook

Knezek, a roommate in Kivela’s East Lansing house, told The Detroit News that they had talked on Tuesday morning. Kivela had considered resigning from office after the second drunken driving arrest, and Knezek assured him he and others would support him.

"I gave you a hug, I said that I loved you, you said that you loved me," Knezek wrote in his Facebook post. "Those were our last words to each other."

At a news conference Tuesday to announce his nomination to the Michigan Supreme Court, Gov. Rick Snyder said it was a "very sad day."

"He had a number of issues in his life and apparently he took his own life," Snyder said.

Kivela and his wife have wife and two children, Shelby and Andrew, both in their 20s.

Photo via Michigan House of Representatives