NEWTOWN, Connecticut — On the day of his 6-year-old daughter's funeral, as Jeremy Richman and his wife gathered with loved ones, an idea emerged for a way to channel their grief: a foundation to promote research into the brain pathologies that lead to violence.
"Jeremy made huge strides in brain health and suicide prevention," said Stephanie Cinque, the director of the Resiliency Center of Newtown, set up as a place for people to gather and talk after a socially isolated gunman killed 20 children and six educators on December 14, 2012.
Richman, who was Jewish, developed a national profile as a lecturer and advocate. He had a meeting on mental health with then-President Barack Obama. In 2015, he received an appointment as a lecturer in psychiatry at Yale's medical school.
Connecticut's governor, two US senators and other local leaders shared stunned condolences.