WWLTV.com
NEWORLEANS - Former New Orleans magistrate commissioner and attorney Joseph Giarrusso Jr., son of the late police chief and city councilman, died Wednesday, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
His wife, Orleans Civil Court Judge Robin Giarrusso, confirmed the incident happened at the couple's Algiers home sometime Wednesday morning.
Mr. Giarrusso was a former Orleans Parish Assistant District Attorney and former Assistant U.S. Attorney. He also served as a magistrate commissioner at Orleans Criminal Court, where he also helped create a domestic violence section to handle those cases.
His father, Joseph Giarrusso Sr., was appointed the city's police chief in 1960 and first elected to the City Council in 1976, serving more than two decades on the council. He died in 2005.
Mr. Giarrusso was active in adult religious education at St. Dominic Catholic Church, a retreat leader and an adjunct professor at the Loyola University Institute for Ministry.
He is survived by two children. His daughter, born with spina bifida that left her paralyzed from the shoulders down, earned a postgraduate degree in counseling from Our Lady of Holy Cross College earlier this year. His son is also a local attorney.
