April 12 (UPI) -- Sheila Abdus-Salaam, the first Muslim woman in U.S. history to serve on the bench, was found dead Wednesday near the Hudson River, New York City police said.
The pioneering Abdus-Salaam, 65, was an associate judge on the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, and the first African-American woman appointed to that bench in 2013.