Naomi Judd’s family drops lawsuit barring release of singer’s last moments

The Grammy winner's family said they would support state legislation allowing authorities to withhold certain records

• This article contains mention of suicide

The family of Naomi Judd is dropping a lawsuit that it filed in an attempt to block the public release of police-captured images showing the Grammy-winning country musician dying slowly after she shot herself earlier this year.

In a statement obtained by the Guardian, representatives of Judd's family - which includes the actor Ashley Judd - said they are instead going to focus on supporting legislation in their home state of Tennessee which would clarify that such graphic materials from investigations into suicides and other non-criminal matters would be barred from being released as public records.

In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 and online chat is also available. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org