The medical examiner has revealed the cause of death of Jessica Aber, the U.S. attorney who suddenly died earlier this year, mere months after resigning from her post on the day President Donald Trump took office.
Police launched an investigation in March as mystery swirled around Aber’s sudden death at age 43. Just two months earlier, she announced she was stepping down as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, effective on January 20, the day of Trump’s inauguration.
“The manner of death is natural and the cause of death is sudden unexpected death in epilepsy,” a spokesperson for Virginia’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner told The Virginian-Pilot last month.
Her family had previously said that she "suffered from epilepsy and epileptic seizures for many years."
Epilepsy, a brain disorder that “causes recurring, unprovoked seizures,” is the fourth most common neurological disorder in the world, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.
Days after Aber was found dead at her Virginia home, police said that "detectives have found no evidence suggesting that her death was caused by anything other than natural causes."
President Joe Biden nominated Aber for U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, she was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in October 2021, becoming the third woman to be confirmed for the office.
She began her service in the Eastern District of Virginia in 2009 as an assistant U.S. Attorney — prosecuting financial fraud, public corruption, violent crime and child exploitation case — before serving as counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the Justice Department. From 2016 until 2021, she was the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division for the district.
In one of her last cases as U.S. Attorney, she announced that former CIA analyst Asif Rahman pleaded guilty to leaking top secret information about an Israeli strike on Iran. He has since been sentenced to more than three years in prison.
Aber held the post for more than three years until she announced she planned to step down on January 20.
“I’ve had the privilege of spending my career as a prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia working alongside talented, hard-working public servants who manage matters affecting citizens here and across the world,” Aber said in a statement on January 17.
“Concluding my service to the District as its U.S. Attorney has been an honor beyond measure. I am deeply grateful to Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and to President Biden for the opportunity to lead this office, and to Attorney General Garland for his steadfast leadership. I am proud of the work we have done with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to enforce the law and build community trust.”
Tributes poured in for Aber in March.
Attorney General Pam Bondi called her death “deeply tragic.”
“Our hearts and prayers go out to her family and friends during this profoundly difficult time,” Bondi said in a statement at the time.
U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert, who now heads the Eastern District of Virginia, said he was “heartbroken beyond words.”
He said in a statement: “She was unmatched as a leader, mentor, and prosecutor, and she is simply irreplaceable as a human being. We remain in awe of how much she accomplished in her all too brief time in this world. Her professionalism, grace, and legal acumen set the standard.”
