Liberty County Magistrate Judge David L. (Trey) Aspinwall III, 44, died Tuesday, according to a family friend. Aspinwall was the son of Liberty County Probate Court Judge Nancy Aspinwall.

Trey Aspinwall, a 1987 Bradwell Institute graduate, had been an associate magistrate in Liberty County since August 2005, according to Chief Magistrate Melinda Anderson.

“He was very smart, very kind-hearted and a sensitive person, and I just cannot believe that he’s gone,” said Anderson, who was notified of Aspinwall’s death Tuesday morning by Hinesville police. “It just doesn’t seem real to me yet. He has been a valued employee — a judge of the court — since 2005, and we will miss him.”

Aspinwall did have some ongoing health problems, according to Anderson, but she did not know his official cause of death.

Aspinwall was not married and had no children, she said.

Carter Funeral Home Oglethorpe Chapel is handling the arrangements, which are pending.