Naomi Judd’s family files lawsuit to BLOCK release of images from singer's tragic death scene
Country music star Naomi Judd died by suicide on April 30, 2022. The tragic death of the country music star has left her admirers in shock. Now, the family of the singer has filed a legal case in an attempt to restrict the public release of the distressing photographs from Judd's tragic death.
According to the legal documents obtained by The Blast, the family of the country singing star is set to sue Dusty Rhoades, the Sheriff of Williamson County, Tennessee, to keep any and all material gathered during the investigation of Naomi’s death private.
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As Meaww reported earlier, the 76-year-old country music icon died on April 30. Later, her daughter Ashley Judd disclosed that the cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. During an interview with 'Good Morning America', Ashley said, “She used a weapon…my mother used a firearm.” She added, “So that’s the piece of information that we are very uncomfortable sharing, but understand that we’re in a position that if we don’t say it someone else is going to.”
Naomi is survived by her two daughters Wynonna Judd and Ashley Judd, and her husband Larry Strickland, to whom she was married for over three decades. Her family is taking every step possible to keep the records related to her death investigation from being released.
Larry, who is the sole executor of Naomi’s will, has filed a legal case. Specifically, they want to block the release of photographs and video recordings that they claim were taken at the scene. As per the family, some of these photos depict Naomi in a “graphic manner.”
The filing states, "Naomi passed away in her residence on April 30, 2022," adding, “Mrs Judd’s death garnered attention from print, television, internet, and radio media outlets all across the world." They state that the Sheriff’s deputies employed by Rhoades “responded to the residence within minutes of receiving a 911 call.”
The court documents go on to say, “Mrs Judd’s accomplishments and her life were celebrated across the world. The loss felt by her husband and daughters, the Plaintiffs, cannot be understated.”
The family of the star is concerned about media outlets gaining the access to the “photographs, video recordings, audio recordings, and written reports” collected as evidence during the investigation of Naomi’s death.
Her family mentioned in the documents that “they will suffer irreparable harm in the form of emotional distress, pain and mental anguish should these records be released. Moreover, the release of these records would continue to cause the entire family pain for years to come.”
The documents filed by the family further reads, “Their right to privacy substantially outweighs any need for public disclosure of these records” and “no legitimate public interest would be served by the release or dissemination of these records to the public.”