2022 Coroner's Annual Report

Benton County Office of the Coroner 2022 Annual Report

Coroner Staff

• William Leach, D-ABMDI, Coroner
• Dennis Morris, Chief Deputy Coroner
• Nicole Lee, Lead Deputy Coroner
• Brooke Jensen, Deputy Coroner
• Liara Yoakum, Deputy Coroner

Benton County Coroner’s Office Organizational Chart

The Benton County Coroner's Office jurisdiction, as governed by specific Washington State statutes, covers all of Benton County, including the Hanford Site, with a population of approximately 215,000 residents and an area of approximately 1760 square miles. The Coroner’s Office investigates sudden, violent, unexpected, accidental, and suspicious deaths that occur in Benton County. The Office of the Coroner certifies deaths after the investigation and postmortem examination and issues the death certificate as required by law. Complete findings of the death investigation are distributed to families, law enforcement, and other agencies as appropriate.

The main duties of the Office of the Coroner are to determine the cause and manner of death and certify deaths that are reported to the coroner. The cause of death is the disease process or injury that resulted in death. There are thousands of diseases and injuries that may result in death. The manner of death is a classification in which a determination is made regarding whether the death resulted from natural causes, homicide, suicide, or an accident; on occasion the manner of death is classified as undetermined.

Information collected during the investigation helps clarify the circumstances, such as the sequence of events prior to death, any known illnesses of the deceased, and prior history of similar conditions not resulting in death. Evidence collected during an investigation and/or postmortem examination may help lead to the arrest and/or successful conviction of a suspect in a homicide case and can also provide information to other agencies to help develop programs to fight drug overdoses and assist in suicide prevention program development. Because deaths occur around the clock, coroner staff is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

With the skill and experience of the coroner office staff and board-certified forensic pathologists, we believe the quality of death investigations in Benton County are among the best in the State. The death investigation reports filed by the investigators are thorough and supply comprehensive information to the Coroner, forensic pathologists, families, and others who may have an interest in the death investigation. The Coroner and investigative staff also extend their duties to the living by answering questions and addressing concerns regarding deaths within the county. Coroner investigators frequently make personal contact with family members of a decedent and assist them by providing appropriate answers regarding the circumstances of the death. Coroner’s staff are supplied with an informational pamphlet for distribution to families that contains information and provides answers to common questions and facts about autopsies, and provides information pertaining to resources in the area, including grief counseling, law enforcement contact information, funeral home contact information and much more.

The Benton County Coroner’s Office continues to use MDILog as its only report writing and data storage system. MDILog has proven itself to be dependable, manageable, and current.

The Benton County Coroner’s Office continues its partnership with the Washington State Department of Health by sharing case information with the DOH Washington Violent Death Reporting System for the purpose of collecting data that helps public health and law enforcement officials understand the extent, cause, and circumstances of violent deaths. This information is used to develop, guide, and evaluate violence prevention strategies throughout Washington.

The Benton County Coroner’s Office also provides drug overdose information to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office for the purpose of tracking and trending drug overdose deaths across Washington. This information is shared with participating counties and can be further distributed to law enforcement to help them stay apprised of drug use trends. 

The Benton County Coroner’s Office continued its agreement with the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office through 2022, allowing them to provide autopsy services to Benton County; however, due to unforeseen circumstances with staff shortages in the Snohomish County ME’s Office which caused a suspension of contract autopsies, Benton County entered into a contract with the Spokane County ME’s Office to provide autopsies in a limited number through 2023.

In October 2022 the Benton County Commissioners approved a request to provided funding to the coroner’s office for hiring an in-house forensic pathologist and additional staff as needed. This funding came from the Public Safety Sales Tax fund and won’t affect the County’s general fund; the funds become available for the 2023-2024 budget cycle. A nationwide search for a forensic pathologist started in December 2022 with hopes to have the position filled sometime in 2023. With the addition of an in-house forensic pathologist Benton County will be able to provide contract autopsies for other counties, which in turn will bring funds back to Benton County. There is still a nationwide shortage of forensic pathologists, however, it is believed with the opportunity  of a fulltime in-house staff position it will be easier to find a forensic pathologist willing to relocate to this area.

The efforts of the Washington Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners in lobbying Washington State Lawmakers continues, with positive developments in working towards increasing the number of forensic pathologists available to Washington Coroners and ME’s offices by researching both short-and long-term solutions to address the shortage.

Fortunately, the Benton County Coroner’s Office was able to again provide educational opportunities to the community by participating in the Kennewick School District’s Community Education program by conducting several classes at the Coroner’s Office on forensic death investigation and coroner related activities. Additionally, we also presented forensic death investigation classes to participants of local police department citizens academies.

In 2022, the Benton County Coroner’s Office policy manual was reviewed and approved by the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners for accreditation, this was prior to the onsite inspection of the coroner’s office and morgue facility.  In early December 2022 the IACME auditors spent a full day at our facility, reviewing reports, verifying the facility meets standards, and interviewing staff, law enforcement, county administrators and others the coroner’s office interacts with; the exit briefing with the auditors was very positive and informative. The final results were the office passed accreditation and it was noted we were one of the best offices the auditors have seen.

In 2022 the Benton County Board of Commissioners and the County administrative staff have continued to provide excellent support to the Benton County Coroner's Office by allowing us to seek a full-time forensic pathologist and approved some building upgrades to ensure we are able to operate in a safe environment, and approved purchases of equipment and technology to help us conduct the best investigations possible. This continued support ensured the Coroner’s Office was able to continue providing uninterrupted and professional services to the citizens of the Benton County during another year of record death investigations.

The Future

The coroner’s staff is looking forward to 2023; we will work diligently to locate a forensic pathologist to add to the staff of the coroner’s office, and with the accreditation process completed, we can concentrate  on the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators certification testing for eligible staff. We will offer instruction and educational opportunities to schools, citizen academies, and other organizations requesting a presentation. Additional outreach to higher education facilities will be done to provide information to students who are looking at career opportunities in forensics and investigations related fields, including pathology related careers.

Part of the committee work done in 2022 with Washington Association of Coroner’s and Medical Examiners training committees developed a new partnership; 2023 will be the first year the Washington Association of Coroner’s and Medical Examiners and the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners will jointly provide training to WACME members.  This training will satisfy Washington law regarding mandatory 40-hour basic death investigation training.

We will continue working on upgrading the technology and equipment used by investigators to ensure our investigations continue to be some of the best in the state. We will also continue working on plans for facility upgrades and improvements to ensure the coroner’s facility is ready for the future.

Cause and Manner of Deaths

In 2022 the Benton County Coroner’s Office conducted 739 death investigations, these include natural deaths, suicides, accidents, and homicides; this is an increase of 4% from 2021. In approximately 455 of these deaths an investigator responded to the location of the death to conduct an on-scene investigation. The Benton County Coroner’s Office also reviewed and tracked 868 Hospice deaths; a 15% increase from in 2021. We also reviewed several death certificates that were referred to the coroner’s office because the doctor or the funeral home referred it, or it was automatically referred by the Department of Health to the coroner for review.

Deaths by Manner

Deaths fall into five classifications:

Deaths by Accident

There were 123 Accidental deaths investigated by the Benton County Coroner’s office in 2022, an increase of 20 from 2021. 

Accidental Drug/Alcohol Deaths

There were 43 Accidental Drug deaths investigated by the Benton County Coroner’s office in 2022. Deaths from drugs are as follows:

Suicide Deaths

There were 35 Suicide deaths investigated by the Benton County Coroner’s office in 2022, an increase of 10 from 2021. Deaths from suicide are as follows:

Homicide Deaths

There were 19 Homicide deaths in Benton County, with two of the victims flown out of the area for medical care. 17 homicides were investigated by the Benton County Coroner’s office in 2022, an increase of 8 from 2021.  Deaths from homicides are as follows:

Undetermined

There were 0 Undetermined deaths investigated by the Benton County Coroner’s office in 2022, a decrease of 2 from 2021.

Pending

There are 0 Pending open cases left from 2022.

Bones

There were 2 found bones cases investigated by the Benton County Coroner’s office in 2022, both were  determined to be non-human.

Autopsies

Autopsies are typically conducted when it is believed the death was due to the violent act of another; where the deceased is believed to be in good health and there is no medical history to reference or to assist in the determination of the cause and manner of death; when the death is believed to have been caused by fire or other unexplained accident; when the deceased is a child, unless there is a substantial amount of previous medical history to explain why the death occurred; when the circumstances of the death are suspicious or otherwise unexplainable.

In 2022 there were 40 full autopsies and no partial autopsies conducted by the Benton County Coroner’s Office, a decrease of 6 autopsies from the previous year.

Morgue Use

There are several situations when a deceased will be transported to the Benton County Morgue; for full autopsy, detailed external examination, awaiting a next-of-kin notification, identification purposes, etc. In 2022 it is estimated there were approximately 250 bodies transported to the Benton County Morgue by the coroner’s office staff. Of these, 40 were for the purpose of conducting an autopsy, all were transported to the Snohomish County or Spokane County ME’s Office; 150 for detailed examination; 40 were to await notification of next-of-kin or funeral home designation; the remaining were awaiting further investigation to determine the need for an autopsy.

Toxicology Testing

There are several circumstances when toxicology testing will be conducted on a deceased. When a death occurs from a motor vehicle accident, where a driver, passenger, or a pedestrian die, when the death is a suspected drug or alcohol overdose, when death is from a suicide by any means, and other deaths as needed.

In 2022 the Benton county Coroner’s office submitted 163 samples for toxicology testing, with 74 of the samples being submitted to the WSP toxicology lab and 89 submitted to the National Medical Services lab.

Organ and Tissue Donation Referrals

Organ and tissue donations are very important to the citizens of Benton County, Washington State and nationwide. When the Benton County Coroner’s Office began using MDILog as its reporting system we had the option to also share some decedent information with organ donation organizations to expedite the process of donations. While the primary donation referrals this office is involved in is for cornea, bone, and tissue donations, we are often contacted by hospitals and organ donation organizations to verify and approve the process of organ donations from persons who are currently hospitalized due to injuries or illnesses but are still considered possible donors. In 2022 the Benton County Coroner’s Office was responsible for 335 direct referrals to organ donation organizations, with 55 resulting in an actual donation.  In 2021 there were 291 direct referrals to organ donation organizations, with 55 resulting in actual donations.

Unclaimed Bodies/Cremated Remains

The Benton County Coroner’s Office has the cremated remains of 48 persons stored at the coroner’s office; these cremated remains date back several years. In 2022 the coroner’s office was presented with the cremated remains of 12 additional persons as unclaimed. Of the remaining cremated remains, the coroner’s office continues to maintain a current list of the names on the Coroner Web Page and is also working with Washington Veterans Cemetery to determine the veteran’s status of the remaining cremated remains; in 2022 there were none identified as veterans. The coroner’s office continues to work with local funeral homes and cemeteries, the Washington Veterans Cemetery and to seek out families of the remaining cremated remains so they can be placed in a proper, dignified final resting place.

Unidentified

There were no unidentified bodies in Benton County in 2022

Exhumations

There were no exhumations done by the coroner’s office in 2022