A Walnut Creek native died over the weekend in Virginia just months after she resigned as the top federal prosecutor representing part of that state.
Jessica Aber, 43, who resigned as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia as the new administration of President Donald Trump took over on Jan. 20, was found dead by police in Alexandria who responded Saturday morning to a report of an unresponsive woman.
Alexandria police did not release any details about Aber’s possible cause of death, but it has been widely reported that she had “longstanding” health issues.
Aber was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Virginia district by former President Joe Biden on Aug. 10, 2021, and the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed her to the post that October.
“We are heartbroken beyond words to learn of the passing of our friend and former colleague. She was unmatched as a leader, mentor, and prosecutor, and she is simply irreplaceable as a human being.”
Erik Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
During the nomination process in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Aber said in a questionnaire that she was born in 1981 in Walnut Creek and graduated from the University of Richmond in Virginia in 2003 before earning her law degree at the William & Mary Law School in 2006.
Current U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik Siebert issued a statement following Aber’s passing.
“We are heartbroken beyond words to learn of the passing of our friend and former colleague,” Siebert said. “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.”
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