Why: The newly elected Texas congressman, who replaced the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, died hours after attending Trump’s speech. Did Sylvester Turner do something wrong that should be punished? The speech said about him that… see more

Texas Rep. Sylvester Turner, the former mayor of Houston, has died suddenly at 70 years old, just two months after joining Congress.

Current Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced Turner’s death at the beginning of a city council meeting on Wednesday, March 5, per local news reports.

According to Whitmire, the Democratic House member was taken to the hospital on Tuesday night after attending President Donald Trump’s address to Congress. He was later pronounced dead.

Related: Donald Trump’s Speech to Congress: 8 of His Claims, from George Washington as ‘Number 2’ to Going to Mars

Arturo Holmes/Getty; Andrew Harnik/Getty

“This comes as a shock to everyone,” said Whitmire, as he asked that flags across Houston be lowered to half-staff. “I would ask Houstonians to come together, pray for his family, join us in celebrating this remarkable public servant. Celebrate his life, which we will be doing.”

“No one really knows how close Sylvester and I were,” he continued. “We’ve been together in good times and bad times. He asked me to speak at his mother’s funeral. I was there when [his daughter] Ashley was born, he was there when [my children] Whitney and Sarah were born.”

Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty

Then-Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner distributing relief supplies for Hurricane Harvey on Sept. 3, 2017

Turner’s cause of death is still unknown. He was previously diagnosed with bone cancer in 2022, and underwent surgery and radiation treatment.

Related: Black Mayors Will Lead 4 Largest Cities in America Following Historic Midterm Wins

Turner was mayor of Houston from 2016 to 2024, and saw the city through Hurricane Harvey and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marcus Ingram/Getty (2)

Texas Rep. Sylvester Turner was elected to fill late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s longtime seat in November 2024

He was elected to represent Texas’s 18th congressional district in November 2024, following the death of longtime Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in June 2024.

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He was a lifelong resident of Houston, and attended the University of Houston for his undergraduate degree before studying at Harvard Law School.

Turner is survived by his daughter, Ashley Page Turner, and one grandson.

Read the original article on People

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