65-year-old Sheila Abdus-Salaam, an associate judge on New York State’s highest court and the first black woman to serve in that capacity, was found dead in the Hudson River on Wednesday. Abdus-Salaam was also the first Muslim woman judge in the United States. The Associated Press reported that her body was discovered along the riverside near Harlem on Wednesday, one day after she was reported missing. They say her body showed no obvious signs of trauma or foul play, and police declined to offer speculation on cause of death.

A pillar of excellence, the Barnard College graduate received her law degree from Columbia Law School. She went on to work as a staff attorney for East Brooklyn Legal Services before serving as a judge in Manhattan state Supreme Court for 14 years. One of seven children growing up in Washington, D.C., Abdus-Salaam came from humble beginnings and rose to serve as one of seven judges in New York's highest court. "Her intellect, judicial temperament and wisdom earned her wide respect," said Claire P. Gutekunst, president of the New York State Bar Association.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who appointed the judge to the state's Court of Appeals in 2013, commended Abdus-Salaam as a trailblazer. "As the first African-American woman to be appointed to the state's Court of Appeals, she was a pioneer," Cuomo said. "Through her writings, her wisdom and her unshakable moral compass, she was a force for good whose legacy will be felt for years to come."