MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Former Tennessee criminal court judge W. Fred Axley has died at age 83, the state court system said.
An obituary posted on the Tennessee State Courts website said Axley died on Friday at his home. No cause of death was provided.
Axley served for 25 years as a criminal court judge in Tennessee’s 30th Judicial District in Shelby County, which includes Memphis.
After serving in the U.S. Army, Axley worked in corporate law before joining the Shelby County district attorney’s office as a felony prosecutor in 1972, the obituary said.
He became a criminal court judge in 1982. He was elected to four eight-year terms before retiring in 2007.
Before his retirement, Axley was accused of sexual harassment in lawsuits filed by two female former clerks in 2000 and 2001. The cases were later dismissed.
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