NEWTOWN, Conn. – The father of a young girl killed in the Sandy Hook massacre was found dead this morning of an apparent suicide.
Jeremy Richman, 49, was found in his office at 7 a.m. by an electrician working in the building, the Hartford Courant reports.
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Richman's daughter Avielle was among 20 first-grade students killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 12, 2012. In all, 26 people lost their lives when a gunman opened fire at the school.
Jeremy Richman and his wife began the Avielle Foundation which was dedicated to "brain science research" to learn about why people like the Sandy Hook gunman go about their actions.
"Jeremy was a good friend and an unceasing advocate for better research into the brain’s violence triggers," Sen. Chris Murphy wrote on Twitter. "He was with me in my office two weeks ago, excited as could be about the Avielle Foundation’s latest amazing work."
Richman was in South Florida last week to speak at Florida Atlantic University's 2019 Violence Summit.
“He was a brokenhearted person, as we all are,” Neil Heslin, the father of another Sandy Hook victim, told The Courant. “It’s sad. Just no words.”
The suicide comes after two students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School killed themselves over struggles with the traumatic events in 2018.