Cause of Death Revealed for Former Federal Prosecutor Who Resigned After Trump’s Victory

The cause of death for Jessica Aber, the former federal prosecutor who was appointed by President Joe Biden and who stepped down on the day President Donald Trump was inaugurated earlier this year, was revealed on Monday, more than five months after she died in her Virginia home.

Aber suffered a “sudden unexpected death in epilepsy,” the State Medical Examiner’s Office told The Virginian-Pilot. She died in her sleep at the age of 43 in her home in Alexandria, Va. on March 22.

Her family, in a statement shared with the Pilot, said Aber had suffered from “epilepsy and epileptic seizures for many years.” Monday’s news comes after local police had previously said they found no evidence suggesting her death was the result of foul play or anything beyond natural causes.

Aber was unanimously confirmed by the Senate as a U.S. Attorney after Biden nominated her in 2021. She spearheaded several high-profile cases during her time as a federal prosecutor, with the New York Post noting one of her biggest wins was getting former CIA analyst Asif Rahman to plead guilty to leaking top secret documents about Israel’s planned military strike against Iran in 2024. The 34-year-old Rahman was sentenced to 37 months in prison for the crime.

She led the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia during her three years as a federal prosecutor. Prior to that, she worked for the Department of Justice as an assistant U.S. attorney early in her career, after graduating from William & Mary Law School in 2006 with a law degree, before later serving as the deputy chief of the criminal division for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Aber resigned on Jan. 20, the same day Trump was sworn in as president for the second time.

“Serving as U.S. Attorney has been an honor,” she said in an X post, a few days before her official resignation. “EDVA is full of dedicated, extraordinary public servants. Thanks to everyone who kept up with EDVA’s fantastic work on X during my tenure.”