Father of Sandy Hook Victim Found Dead at Edmond Town Hall after Apparent Suicide

Jeremey Richman, a father to late daughter Avielle Richman, who was one of 20 children who perished in the Sandy Hook School shooting was found dead Monday of an apparent suicide. Richman championed the push for research into how brain-health is tied to violence after his daughter and classmates were gunned down in 2012. Police said the death of Richman, 49, at Edmond Town Hall, appears to be a suicide. His body was found by electricians at about 7 a.m., police report. His death was the third apparent suicide in a week in which the victim was tied to a mass shooting at a U.S. school. Jessie Lewis, mother of 6-year old Sandy Hook victim reported, “He was a brokenhearted person, as we all are. It’s sad. Just no words.” Heslin, who said he got to know Richman well after the massacre, said that the grief and pain never goes away. “I’m not suicidal, but I can definitely see how some people would be that way with the traumatic loss. I know Jeremy struggled.” Richman, who was a neuroscientist, had an office for the Avielle Foundation at Edmond Town Hall with his wife, Jennifer Hensel, where they led the charge on mental health issues as well as pushed for more brain research into the origins of violent behavior. His foundation released a statement on Monday saying, “Our hearts are shattered, and our heads are struggling to comprehend. Jeremy was a champion father, husband, neuroscientist and, for the past seven years, a crusader on a mission to help uncover the neurological underpinnings of violence through The Avielle Foundation, which he and his wife founded after the death of their daughter, Avielle, at Sandy Hook Elementary School.” A GoFundMe campaign to raise donations for the Avielle Foundation launched Monday night with a $100,000 starting donation from investor Ron Conway, who has worked previously with Sandy Hook Promise. In the wake of Richman’s death and the apparent suicides of two students in Parkland, Florida, U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes said, “we must do more as a society to help victims of gun violence and their families grieve.”