Sheila Abdus-Salaam Obituary

Sheila Abdus-Salaam, the country’s first female Muslim judge, died Wednesday, April 12, 2017, according to multiple sources. She was 65.

She was also the first black female judge to serve on New York state’s highest court.

Her body was discovered Wednesday afternoon in the Hudson River. She had been reported missing by her husband Tuesday, according to news reports.

Robert Boyce, chief of detectives for the New York Police Department, told reporters that there were no apparent injuries to Abdus-Salaam's body, and her death does not appear to be criminal in nature.

She was born Sheila Turner March 14, 1952, in Washington, D.C. She went to college at Barnard and received her law degree from Columbia University. She was a lawyer at East Brooklyn Legal Services and later became an assistant attorney general in the New York State Department of Law. She began her judicial career in 1991.