Kentucky State Senator Johnnie L. Turner has died. This comes more than a month after Turner accidentally drove his lawn mower into a pool. It can only be described as a freak accident.
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Republican Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers announced that Turned had passed away from injuries related to the accident. He said that Turner passed "following a hard-fought battle." The incident happened on September 15. Turner had been on a riding lawn mower when he ended up driving into the deep end of an empty swimming pool.
Turner held many roles throughout his career. He was an Army medic, an attorney, and later served in the House of Representatives from 1999 through 2002. More recently, Turner joined the Senate for District 29 in 2021.
Following his passing, several of the senator's colleagues paid tribute to him and his memory. In a statement, Stivers praised Turner for his strength and optimism.
Johnnie L. Turner Dies
"Over the past weeks, his remarkable resolve and strength filled the Turner family — and all of us — with optimism, making this loss all the more difficult to bear," Stivers said of Turner's death.
"Johnnie spent his life lifting others—whether through his service in the U.S. Army, as a member of the State House of Representatives and State Senate, or in his private legal practice," he added.
"His unwavering commitment to the people of Eastern Kentucky — his constituents, brothers and sisters in Christ, whom he so fondly referred to as 'his people' — was at the heart of everything he did."
Meanwhile, Kentucky House Speaker David Osborne called Turner an "ardent champion and passionate voice for eastern Kentucky." Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell also said that Turner "lived his life for others."
"In recent years, I remember crossing paths with Johnnie to survey the damage left by the devastating floods that hit Eastern Kentucky," he recalled. "Johnnie was on the scene, ankle-deep in mud, his equipment from home in tow, ready to help folks in Letcher County. That's just who he was: a good man who loved the mountains and its people."
Turner leaves behind a wife, three children, as well as grandchildren.
