Just days after the suicides of two Parkland school shooting survivors, the father of a six-year-old girl who was killed during the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut has apparently taken his own life.
The body of Jeremy Richman, whose daughter, Avielle was killed in the 2012 shooting, was found at Edmond Town Hall in Newtown where he had an office for the Avielle Foundation.
From The Hartford Courant:
Richman, who led the charge on mental health issues with his wife in the wake of the shooting, had an office for the Avielle Foundation at Edmond Town Hall. The foundation is dedicated to pushing for “brain science research” to attempt to discover the reasons behind some individuals’ murderous actions.
Weeks after the shooting, Richman and others went to the Connecticut state legislature calling for fixing a broken mental health care system and removing the stigma from psychiatric illness. “We must act to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” he told lawmakers in the January 2013 hearing.
For those who knew, Richman remained dedicated to this mission.
“He had such a clear purpose of what he wanted to do to honor his daughter,” said a family member of one of the Sandy Hook shooting victims. “I’m just shocked. I’m sitting in my car right now crying. The foundation was doing really important work and was doing such good things.”
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
Richman and his wife, Jennifer Hensel were part of a group of Sandy Hook parents who sued human garbage person Alex Jones after he led a campaign of harassment, claiming Sandy Hook was a hoax.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, there is help available. Please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.