Country singer Naomi Judd’s family received a court order on Tuesday to keep her death certificates sealed from the public record, court documents show.
Judd’s husband, Larry Strickland, and two daughters, Wynonna and Ashley, filed for injunctive relief Monday in Williamson County, Tennessee, to protect their family’s privacy. The filing requests that the investigation into Judd’s suicide be kept private, including records that depict Judd in a “graphical manner.”
The sheriff’s office, which responded to Judd’s death in April, collected photo and video evidence, among other documents, which, if released, would cause “emotional distress, pain and mental anguish.”
“In addition, releasing these records would continue to hurt the entire family for years,” the filing said.
A temporary waiver was issued on Tuesday, with an evidence hearing scheduled for Sept. 12. The court ordered the county to notify anyone who requested documents related to Judd’s death under the state’s Public Records Act of the decision.
Judd’s daughters announced on April 30 that they had lost their mother to “the illness of mental illness.” Ashley Judd later revealed the method by which Judd died by suicide.
“My mother used a firearm, so that’s the piece of information we find very uncomfortable to share, but we understand we’re in a position that if we don’t say it, someone else will,” she said in a statement. interview with “Good Morning America.”
Judd died a day before she and her daughter Wynonna, of the Grammy-winning duo The Judds, were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She was 76.
She had previously been candid about her battle with depression over the years. In a 2017 NBC News essay, Judd said the mental illness had left her inert for two years.
“My family – Ashley, Wynonna and Larry – was just beside themselves,” she wrote. “When you see someone you love who is suffering so deeply, and there’s nothing you can do, it’s almost as hard for you as it is for the person who’s suffering, especially if you love each other as much as we celebrate hold each other. .”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at: 800-273-8255text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.