Naomi Judd’s Family Drops Request to Stop Release of Police Investigation
Naomi Judd's family is no longer suing to prevent the release of police investigation records created after the singer's death in April. They've officially dropped the lawsuit.
On the surface, the move is a stunning reversal. Judd's daughter's Naomi and Ashley and her husband Larry Strickland wished to prevent media outlets and the general public from learning of, seeing and hearing details recorded during a very vulnerable moment in their lives. Ashley Judd went as far as to write an op-ed in the New York Times that called to reform laws which grant the public these kinds of records.
"I gushed answers to the many probing questions directed at me in the four interviews the police insisted I do on the very day my mother died — questions I would never have answered on any other day and questions about which I never thought to ask my own questions, including: Is your body camera on? Am I being audio recorded again? Where and how will what I am sharing be stored, used and made available to the public?” Judd wrote on Aug. 31.
Part of the reason the Judd family is — per the Associated Press — seeking to dismiss the lawsuit (a judge still needs to approve it) is because journalists requesting the records are not seeking photos of Naomi Judd, or body camera footage taken by officers. The Guardian indicates that outlets may have withdrawn any request for images.
How Did Naomi Judd Die?
Naomi Judd died by suicide on April 30, 2022. Ashley found her still alive, but in desperate need of medical attention. The Judds, consisting of Naomi and Wynonna Judd, were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame the next day.
Since her death, Wynonna Judd has carried on with a planned final tour and even announced additional dates for 2023, with shows in January and February.