Jesse Ryan Loskarn, a former aide to Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, was found dead on an apparent suicide Thursday afternoon, police said Friday, about a month after he was arrested on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography.
Loskarn, 35, was Alexander’s chief of staff when he was arrested, a position he had held for two years. Alexander abruptly fired the aide. Loskarn had been awaiting the outcome of his grand jury proceedings in the cusody of his parents in Maryland.
The Carroll County Sherriff’s office said Friday that deputies responded to a call around noon Thursday after family members discovered Loskarn in the basement. “The preliminary investigation indicates that Loskarn may have taken his own life,” the Sherriff’s release said.
Sen. Alexander said in a statement, “For everyone involved, this is a sad and tragic story from beginning to end.”
Meredith Clark
Meredith Clark is a freelance writer and editor. She was previously a senior news producer for "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj," a reporter with MSNBC.com, the digital politics and culture editor at Glamour and a senior news and politics editor at Refinery29. She has written for Vulture, Rolling Stone, Self, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast and Bustle.