ICYMI: Death Of Sheila Abdus-Salaam, NY State Judge, Being Investigated As Suicide

HARLEM, NY — The body of of NY State Court of Appeals Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam showed no outward signs of trauma or any other indication she died as the result of foul play, but police said Thursday that's it's "too early" to rule the death a suicide.

Law enforcement sources told Patch privately that Abdus-Salaam, 65, likely took her own life Wednesday. She had been reported missing after having last been heard from Tuesday.

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The NYPD harbor unit recovered Abdus-Salaam's body Wednesday about 1:45 p.m. from the shore on the New York side of the Hudson River, police told Patch. She was transported to West 125th and Marginal streets, where paramedics pronounced her dead.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has launched an investigation to determine the cause of death. A message left with a medical examiner spokeswoman has not been returned.

During a press conference Thursday, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce told reporters that it's "too early to tell" whether the judge took her own life. Boyce said, though, that the death does not appear to be a homicide, as Abdus-Salaam suffered no apparent injuries and was not believed to have been in the water for a long time.

Abdus-Salaam was last seen Monday night around 7 p.m. after spending the week in New Jersey with her husband, Boyce said. Her death was a "surprise to everyone," the detective told reporters Thursday.

Tributes for Abdus-Salaam continued to pour in. The judge was remembered as a "pioneer" who established herself as a respected jurist and a champion for equal justice.

"Justice Sheila Abdus-Salaam was a trailblazing jurist whose life in public service was in pursuit of a more fair and more just New York for all," New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.

Abdus-Salaam served as an associate judge on the New York State Court of Appeals. When she was appointed to the court by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2013, she became the first black woman, and the first Muslim, to ever take the seat.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said that Abdus-Salaam's death will leave a void in the effort to reform the country's criminal justice system.

"The first black woman to be appointed to a seat on New York’s highest court, she lived up to her reputation of being smart, principled, and rigorously fair," Vance said in a statement. "Justice Abdus-Salaam leaves a void not only on the State’s highest bench, but in the criminal justice system as a whole. On behalf of the entire Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, I would like to express my deepest condolences to her family, friends, and colleagues."

Prior to serving on the Court of Appeals, Abdus-Salaam was a judge in New York City civil court, and was later elected to the state's Supreme Court.

Abdus-Salaam began her legal career at East Brooklyn Legal Services. At one point, she also worked as an assistant attorney general in the New York State Department of Law's civil rights and real estate financing bureaus, according to her official biography.

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Photo by Hans Pennink/Associated Press