LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A Michigan lawmaker who killed himself a day after a drunken driving arrest told an officer during the stop that his life was over.
The Detroit Free Press (https://on.freep.com/2q1EsUM ) says the officer stopped Rep. John Kivela (KEE-Vuh-luh) from walking into traffic on busy U.S. 127. The newspaper said it obtained records Thursday from the Clinton County sheriff’s department.
Sheriff Lawrence Jerue says officers believed Kivela was talking about his political career when he said his life was over last week. He says there wasn’t a specific suicide threat to justify keeping him in custody for a mental-health assessment.
Kivela, a Democrat from Marquette, was found dead in his Lansing home on May 9, the day after his arrest. It was his second arrest for drunken driving while a lawmaker.
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This version of the story corrects the pronouncer in the second paragraph.
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Information from: Detroit Free Press, https://www.freep.com
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