HARLEM — The death of Justice Sheila Abdus-Salaam, the first African-American woman to serve on the state Court of Appeals, has been ruled a suicide after months of speculation by police and her family, authorities said.
The body of Abdus-Salaam, 65, was found in the Hudson River near West 132nd Street on April 12, police said.
On Wednesday, the city's Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the cause and manner of death suicide by drowning, spokeswoman Julie Bolcer said.
Investigators initially suspected she committed suicide, but a week later police said that it appeared suspicious.
Abdus-Salaam was found fully clothed with a MetroCard on her, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said at the time, adding that her death came as a “surprise to everyone.”
“We’re speaking to everyone she was involved with in her lifetime,” Boyce said.
The NYPD later found video of Abdus-Salaam walking alone near the Hudson River the night before her body was discovered.
Abdus-Salaam, a longtime Harlem resident, was appointed to the state Court of Appeals by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2013, becoming the first African-American woman to serve on the court.
