The city of Atlanta is mourning the tragic death of Marta general manager and CEO Jeffrey Parker, who died by suicide on Friday (January 14).
Rita Scott, MARTA Board of Directors Chairwoman, announced Jeffrey’s passing with the following statement:
The MARTA Board of Directors grieves the shocking death of our GM/CEO Jeff Parker who has died by suicide.
He was an outstanding leader and steward of MARTA whose passing leaves us all heartbroken.
As Chairwoman and on behalf of my fellow MARTA board members, we are devastated at this loss as we valued Jeff’s leadership and looked forward to him bringing his vision for transit to fruition. The entire metro Atlanta region owes him a debt of gratitude for his transformational efforts and we will not stop working to build on the foundation he created.
As we struggle to understand the complexity of this tragedy, we grieve with and for his wife Erin, his daughters and all of Jeff’s family and friends as well as his MARTA family.
As we continue to grieve, we you to know that suicide is preventable and help is available to you.
For access to services and immediate crisis help, call the Georgia Crisis & Access Line (GCAL) at 1-800-715-4225, available 24/7.
See the original statement below.
Unconfirmed reports state Jeffrey Parker was killed by a MARTA train at the East Lake MARTA station at about 10:30 p.m. on Friday night.
MARTA did tweet there was a rail disruption at the station due to an emergency and they were offering $15 Lyfe and Uber credits for passengers to get home.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens also released a statement saying he was “shocked and saddened” to learn of Jeffery’s passing.
My sincerest condolences to Jeffrey’s family, colleagues, and all who knew and loved him.
Source: CNN
