Father of Sandy Hook victim dies in apparent suicide

The father of a child killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 was found dead in an apparent suicide in Newtown, Conn., Monday, the Newtown Police Department said on its Facebook page.

The body of Jeremy Richman, 49, was found at the Newtown Town Hall Monday morning, according to the post. Police confirmed that the death “does not appear to be suspicious.”

Richman’s daughter Avielle was one of 26 people killed in the 2012 shooting. Richman was the founder of the Avielle Foundation, which aims to “prevent violence and build compassion through neuroscience research, community engagement, and education,” according to its website.

“Jeremy was a good friend and an unceasing advocate for better research into the brain’s violence triggers,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said on Twitter, calling the death “awful, horrible, devastating news.”

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

“This is devastating – for Jeremy’s family, for the world. Jeremy was one of the kindest people I’d met on this journey since the Sandy Hook School shooting in 2012,” Shannon Watts, founder of gun control advocacy group Moms Demand Action, tweeted Monday morning. 

This is devastating – for Jeremy’s family, for the world. Jeremy was one of the kindest people I’d met on this journey since the Sandy Hook School shooting in 2012.

Please remember the Avielle Foundation today: https://t.co/0Y2gONMwxK https://t.co/u0nE4pLjqb

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) March 25, 2019

Richman’s death comes the week after the apparent suicides of two survivors of the February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Sydney Aiello and an unidentified minor. A GoFundMe campaign for Aiello’s family raised more than $73,000, over three times its goal, as of Sunday.