District Attorney Robert Busbee of the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit died Friday morning after becoming unresponsive while at a Statesboro gym and being rushed to the local hospital. Elected as the four-county Superior Court circuit’s chief prosecutor in 2024, he was sworn into office less than 18 months ago.

Just 44 years old, Busbee was pronounced dead at East Georgia Regional Medical Center at 9:07 a.m. after an apparent heart attack, according toBulloch County Coroner Chuck Francis.

“He was at the gym this morning and became unresponsive; EMS was called,” Francis said.

Bulloch County 911 logged the initial call from The Garage, a commercial fitness center on West Main Street, at 8:04 a.m. The Bulloch County Emergency Medical Service, headquartered just blocks away, was dispatched at 8:05:32 a.m., and the ambulance, in route by 8:07:35, arrived at 8:08 a.m., according to the log as checked by 911 Director Kelly Barnard.

A message was posted on the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office page on Facebook shortly after 11 a.m. Friday:

“It is with profound sadness that we confirm District Attorney D. Robert Busbee has passed away. Currently, no additional formal details are available. We ask that everyone keep his family, friends and colleagues in their thoughts and respectfully honor their privacy during this difficult time.

“We will be closing both of our offices today and will have a more formal update later.”

Those offices are located in the judicial circuit’s two largest counties. One is across the street from the Bulloch County Courthouse in Statesboro and the other is inside the Old Effingham County Courthouse in Springfield. Jenkins County and Screven County are also served by prosecutors and other staff from those offices.

Responding at midday to a reporter’s call, Lindsay Gribble, Busbee’s non-attorney chief of staff, said she had received messages from Busbee’s wife about what had happened and immediately informed leadership, including Chief Assistant D.A. Jillian Gibson at the Statesboro office and Deputy Chief Assistant D.A. Ben Edwards in Springfield, to meet with the staff in both offices.

“And we let everybody know before they heard it from somewhere else. …,” Gribble said. “Obviously it was a very, very unexpected piece of news for everybody this morning. We’re obviously thinking of his family right now and then also trying to figure out our steps forward.”

The Ogeechee Circuit staff would be consulting the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia about whether Gibson will serve as the acting district attorney and otherwise how to proceed, Gribble said.

Defense attorney to D.A.

Before becoming district attorney, Busbee had worked as a civil litigation and criminal defense attorney, operating an independent practice, based in Statesboro, for more than 10 years. Busbee declared his candidacy in February 2024, challenging previous District Attorney Daphne Totten and winning by a substantial margin in the Republican primary that May. With no Democrat in the race, he was unopposed in November, but only sworn into office Dec. 30, 2024 for the four-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

A native of Jesup, Busbee had first arrived in Statesboro as a Georgia Southern University student. Majoring in political science, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2009. Then he went to the Georgia State University College of Law in Atlanta. After interning briefly with a law firm in Atlanta and receiving his law degree in 2012, he moved back to Statesboro and started his law practice here in 2014.

Married since November 2016, Busbee and his wife, Erika Jordan Busbee, have three young sons, the youngest less than 1 year old.