Virginia medical examiner attributes former U.S. attorney's death to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy
Autopsy report finds former Eastern District of Virginia U.S. Attorney Jessica Aber, 43, died from SUDEP after being found dead at home in March
The Alexandria, Virginia, medical examiner's office on Monday concluded that former U.S. Attorney Jessica Aber died from a "sudden unexpected death in epilepsy," months after she was found dead in her sleep at home in March.
Police previously said investigators had found "no evidence suggesting that her death was caused by anything other than natural causes." Aber's family had said shortly after her death that she had suffered from epilepsy and related seizures "for many years."
Aber, 43, served as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia from 2021 until she resigned on Jan. 20, 2025, the day President Donald Trump returned to the White House. In her resignation letter, she described the job as "an honor beyond measure." Authorities have not disclosed further investigative details beyond the medical examiner's finding.
Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, commonly abbreviated SUDEP, refers to an unexpected, nontraumatic, and nondrowning death in people with epilepsy, with or without evidence of a seizure, and in which postmortem examination does not reveal a structural or toxicological cause of death that explains it. SUDEP often occurs during sleep and is a leading cause of mortality directly related to epilepsy. Risk factors cited by medical literature include frequent generalized tonic-clonic seizures and uncontrolled epilepsy, though each case requires individual medical assessment.
Following Aber's death, local police said there were no signs of foul play and that the death appeared natural. The medical examiner's ruling formalizes the cause as related to epilepsy; it does not indicate any criminality or external factors contributing to her death.
Aber had been a prominent federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, which handles high-profile national security, public corruption and violent crime cases. Her tenure began in 2021, and she stepped down with other Biden-appointed U.S. attorneys ahead of the administration change in January 2025. The medical examiner's report closes the official inquiry into the cause of her death; no further action has been announced by law enforcement.
Her family’s earlier public statement and the medical examiner’s ruling together attribute the death to her long-standing epilepsy, providing official confirmation of a cause that family members had referenced soon after her passing.