An Indiana judge killed in a small plane crash in southeastern Illinois was being remembered Sunday by fellow judges as a problem-solver who helped defendants start new lives.
The plane crashed Saturday insoutheastern Illinois, killed the pilot, Ryan Johanningsmeier, authorities said. He had been a judge in Indiana’s Knox County since 2015.
“His tragic death leaves his staff and loved ones in mourning and we join them,” Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush said in a Sunday statement. “As a problem-solving court judge he helped provide defendants with a new path in life allowing those most in need of restorative justice to work for a better tomorrow.”
Johanningsmeier was the only person on board the single-engine Cirrus SR22.
The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the cause of the crash, which happened a few miles from an airport in Lawrence County.