The former director of strategic communications for the southern New England chapter of Planned Parenthood took his own life amid a child pornography investigation in Connecticut this week.
Police did not name abortion advocate Tim Yrgo, 36, as a suspect in the investigation, but confirmed that the man who committed suicide in the apartment building was a suspect.
Yergo, 36, committed suicide five days after an apparently unsuccessful attempt by the police to arrest him. Investigators broke down his neighbor’s door in New Haven, Connecticut and handcuffed her before realizing they had broken into the wrong apartment.
“The person who died is definitely the suspect in the child pornography investigation and the person who committed suicide,” said New Haven Police Chief Carl Jacobson. New Haven Register.
Yergo appeared to be posting regularly on social media until December 2022. Pictures of God’s children, family, friends, and work events he experienced in the months leading up to his death.
Tim Yergo, 36, committed suicide five days after a botched child pornography police raid at his home in New Haven, Connecticut.
In an interview with Hartford Business, Yergeau, 27 (left) at the time, said he’s spent his entire career working in the arts, fundraising, and the arts. Seen pictured with former Connecticut governor Daniel Malloy (right), Liza Minnelli (center right) and Malloy’s wife Kathy (center left)
Yergeau was the Director of Marketing and Communications at Long Wharf Theater and previously worked at Planned Parenthood (pictured with other PP employees)
Yargo appeared to post regularly on social media until December 2022. Photos of his children, family, friends and work events revealed the life of the 36-year-old in the months leading up to his death.
Jacobson requested an internal affairs investigation after members of the Special Victims Unit “clearly rammed the wrong door”. The investigation will also look into how Yargo committed suicide in the aftermath of the raid.
“Unfortunately, a mistake was made,” Jacobson said. “We feel for the woman and will do everything we can to make it right.”
“The investigation is part of my administration’s accountability and transparency.”
Jacobson declined to confirm whether Yergeau was the suspect in the child pornography investigation, but Yergeau’s neighbor and the state chief medical examiner’s office confirmed he died Tuesday morning. The coroner also confirmed that he had committed suicide.
Yergeau was appointed in August 2022 as the Long Wharf Theatre’s Director of Marketing and Communications, according to the organization’s website.
The photos he posted on Instagram show him behind the scenes on the job in the few weeks after he started working.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the developments over the past 24 hours,” a spokesperson for the theater said Wednesday in an email to the outlet.
“Given the difficult news, it would be inappropriate to provide further comments.”
During his time at Planned Parenthood, Yergeau was part of an art and letter-writing workshop in the PPSNE parking lot — the writing 247 “Love Letters” to Abortion.
He said at the time of the event that the observations might become an installation in his Whitney Avenue office, or at one of PPSNE’s 14 satellite locations in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
In an interview with Hartford BusinessYergeau, 27 at the time, said he has spent his entire career working in the arts, fundraising, and the arts.
Yergo’s neighbor, Stacy Wisenter, said she was traumatized when officers broke down her door and handcuffed her before realizing their mistake.
Police raided the East Street New Haven home (pictured) on April 6 looking for a suspect in a child pornography investigation
When speaking about how he creates professional relationships, he notes: ‘I try to be as authentic as possible – I think everyone is always over-motivated, over-sold, over-worked – so I try to be open and honest, to spot areas of agreement’ And be honest with my values.
When sharing what he would like his legacy to be, he said: ‘I think it’s too early to start thinking about a lasting legacy.
I love making people laugh and making them think. I love hearing people say, “He was funny” and “He always had something thoughtful to share.”
There are still two investigations open into the matter, Jacobson said, and police will not release a search warrant request or information about what was found in Yrgo’s apartment until they are sure no one else is involved in the case.
The state can also decide whether or not to release the warrant.
Stacy Wisenter, a neighbor of Yrgo’s, said she was left in shock when officers broke down her door and handcuffed her before realizing the apartment was the wrong one on April 6.
“Every time I walk down the hallway, I relive it,” said Wisenter, whose two children, ages 20 and 4, were home when police burst through the door.
What if I have a gun permit? What if I come down the hallway with a gun? Was I going to pick up?
What if my four-year-old wakes up? Are they going to shoot him? Wisenter said Wednesday. “You just don’t do that to people.”
Wisinter heard an explosion around 6 a.m. when she realized police had removed her door and were searching her apartment with their guns drawn, she said.
I started running in the hallway, it was like in a movie. They were carrying guns and flashlights on me, Wisenter said.
They put me against the wall and handcuffed me. I was crying and saying, “What’s going on?”
Wisenter could hear the officers shouting, “Clear, clear” every time they entered a room, and they kept asking her where the man was, she recalled.
I was like, what man? I’m here with my kids. They said: Who is Tim? “And I said this is my neighbor downstairs.”
When they saw her son’s toys, they realized they were in the wrong place, she explained to the outlet.
She added that the officers said they were conducting surveillance on her neighbour, who was the focus of the investigation.
Yergeau appeared to be posting photos frequently on social media platforms until the end of 2022
Yergeau posted behind-the-scenes photos at his job at Long Wharf in December 2022
They literally went up to the third floor. If they were watching him, they would have seen my son and I go and go.
Wisenter has since filed a complaint and says police tried to link her to mental health services, but she refused.
“I was planning to go over there and talk to him,” she said of her neighbor, before realizing he had committed suicide.
“I just thought maybe a little act of empathy might help.”
