MISSISSIPPI LAWMAKER FOUND DEAD AT THE HOUSE OF A FORMER POLITICIAN WHO WAS NOT ARRESTED

Rep. Jessica Upshaw

A Mississippi state lawmaker was found dead of an apparent suicide Sunday in the home of a former legislator.
Rep. Jessica Upshaw appeared to have shot herself in the head, according to Simpson County Sheriff Kenneth Lewis. She was 53.
Police were called to the scene in Mendenhall around 2 p.m., Lewis told NBC affiliate WLBT. The home belongs to former state Rep. Clint Rotenberry, who was not arrested.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation declined to comment specifically about her death Sunday, and said its crime scene unit was continuing to investigate.
Upshaw died about 110 miles away from her home district in Diamondhead, a city near the Gulf Coast.
The conservative Republican practiced as a lawyer before becoming a state lawmaker in 2004, and chaired the Legislature’s Conservation and Natural Resources Committee.
It wasn’t immediately clear what she was doing at Rotenberry’s home. The former lawmaker’s phone went unanswered Sunday.
Upshaw wasn't married, and had an adult daughter and son-in-law working as engineers in South Korea, according to The Clarion-Ledger. She was also a proud grandmother.
“She was very close with her daughter and with her mother — just loved her family,” Mississippi Rep. John Read told the newspaper. “Her heart was just so big. She’d do anything for you. She was just a sweet person.”
Other Mississippi politicians also spoke highly of Upshaw, including Gov. Phil Bryant.
“I have known Jessica for many years as an unselfish and dedicated public servant,” Bryant said in a statement. “This is a tragic loss for her family and all Mississippians, and our thoughts and prayers go out to her family during this difficult time.”