Los Angeles County Department of Coroner

Alejandro Razo Accused Of Having Sex With Dead Woman At Sherman Oaks Hospital

A Reseda man was arrested on suspicion of having sex with a dead woman, police say. The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner planned an autopsy on the body as part of the investigation, but officials at that office said details would not be forthcoming as a result of a security hold. The suspe ... More >>

Fili Lamas's Family Tragedy

A young Inglewood mom sues over the murders of her husband and baby by a problem neighbor

Lee Morris, Pilot Whose Body Was Found Near Burbank Freeway, Died Of Heart Attack

The investigation into the strange death of Lee Morris, an Alaska Airlines pilot whose freeway-adjacent body was found during a layover in Burbank in October, is today a closed case, police said. The L.A. County Coroner's office says he died of natural causes, Burbank police announced today. Corone ... More >>

David Goeser, Missing UCLA Student, Shot Self in Head; Remains Found in Pacific Palisades

Cops today said remains found along a hiking trail in Pacific Palisades were those of missing UCLA student David Goeser. The LAPD says in a statement that the 23-year-old "died from a single gunshot wound to the head" and that "a semiautomatic pistol was also found next to the body." The remains, ... More >>

Theodore Rowan falls to death at Pacific Design Center

An opening event at the Pacific Design Center was interrupted by apparent suicide yesterday evening. Theodore Edward Rowan, 72, was a resident of West Hollywood, says Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. Witnesses say Rowan fell to his death at approximately 5:30pm in the midst of ... More >>

Theodore Rowan, 72, Falls to Death at Pacific Design Center

An opening event at the Pacific Design Center was interrupted by apparent suicide yesterday evening. Theodore Edward Rowan, 72, was a resident of West Hollywood, says Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. Witnesses say Rowan fell to his death at approximately 5:30pm in the midst of ... More >>

Scott Barker Murder Trial Continues with Haunting Photographs of Victim Tony Takazato

Check out the bone-chilling details of the Trousdale Murder case: "Did Scott Barker Knife Rich Kid Tony Takazato to Save His Girlfriend from Prostitution?" At the Beverly Hills Courthouse the past two weeks, L.A.'s true noir side has been playing out in the courtroom of Judge Elden S. Fox with litt ... More >>

Brett Cronin Gave 13-Year-Old Fatal Dose of Heroin, LAPD Says

Updated at the bottom: The D.A. threw the book at Cronin today. First posted at 8:03 a.m. A 23-year-old man was behind bars today after he allegedly gave heroin to a Woodland Hills 13-year-old who then died, police said. The suspect was identified as Brett Cronin. Sadly, a San Fernando Valley man ... More >>

Michael Cormier, Forensic Technician for L.A. County Coroner, Dies Under 'Suspicious Circumstances'

The L.A. County Department of Coroner is a crazy place. Employees at the old, haunted-house-looking office -- including sentence-servers like Lindsay Lohan -- see a flurry of celebrity overdoses and true-Hollywood murders come through, alongside countless casualties of this brutal gangland. And the ... More >>

Annette Lujan: Woman Dies in CSU Long Beach Elevator Accident [UPDATED]

KTLA via DMVAnnette Lujan reportedly attempted to exit a CSULB elevator just as it began to move.​The victim has been identified as 48-year-old Annette Lujan, a resident of Huntington Beach. She had worked at CSULB's grants and contracts office for nine years. More details at the bottom. Orig ... More >>

Warrant Singer Jani Lane Found Dead

​Jani Lane, the lead singer for Hollywood glam metal band Warrant, was found dead last night at a Comfort Inn in Woodland Hills. Police responded to a 911 call around 5:30 pm, and fire department officials pronounced him dead shortly thereafter. The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office is inves ... More >>

Robert Canizalez and Martin Morones, Illegal Street Racers, Murdered Dora Groce and Her Two Kids in Fiery El Monte Crash

Dora, Robert and Catherine Groce, murdered by street racers.​Robert Canizalez and Martin Morones murdered Dora Groce and her two children in a horrific car blaze like a terror scene from Terminator, and California's 2nd District Court of Appeal yesterday denied their absurd attempt to undo the ... More >>

Jonas Bevacqua Found Dead in L.A. Home: Young Co-Founder of LRG Clothing May Have Suffered Heart Attack

Jonas Bevacqua​Street-fashion entrepreneur Jonas Bevacqua, 34, was found dead in his Los Angeles Laguna Beach home this morning, according to the Twitter account of Karmaloop, an online retailer that sells his LRG apparel [spotted at OC Weekly]. L.A. bling king Ben Baller, Bevacqua's "best fu ... More >>

Jose Diance-Cruz's Death Ruled Accident, But Coroner Will Look Into Whether LAPD Cop Was Drunk When His Pickup Crashed

SharleneDaysJose Diance-Cruz, left.​The Los Angeles County Coroner's office will conduct toxicology tests on the body of LAPD Officer Jose Diance-Cruz, who died in a solo-vehicle accident over the weekend. One of the things coroner's investigators are looking into is whether the off-duty 23-ye ... More >>

Kirk Spiegel, Second-Grade Teacher at LAUSD's Pinewood Elementary, Commits Suicide off 210 Freeway Overpass

FacebookSecond-grade LAUSD teacher Kirk Spiegel​Updated throughout. Early this morning around 2 a.m., 49-year-old Kirk Spiegel -- a Los Angeles Unified School District employee, according to LAUSD -- jumped to his death off the 210 freeway overpass in La Canada Flintridge. "He was a second-g ... More >>

Inside the Nickerson Garden Projects with Rapper Jay Rock: "They can call anyone a terrorist, a gangbanger, and put cameras in your neighborhood."

Sam SlovickJay Rock​Papa Dad didn't make the big Martin Luther King Jr. Parade on MLK Boulevard. He was shot dead on Jan. 3 at 103rd and Crenshaw. Jay Rock and Punch didn't attend, either. It's a turf thing. They want to stay alive. So on the day of the parade, they hung out in Nickerson Garde ... More >>

The Black Thing

Digging At LA Plaza, New Mexican American Cultural Center Downtown, Comes To A Stop: Blame Dem Bones

Jennifer JaimesCritics had a bone to pick with LA Plaza.​The 2.22-acre "LA Plaza" downtown is supposed to be "the nation's premier center of Mexican American culture and arts" when it opens in spring. But right now it's the center of a controversy involving ... bones. The remains could belong ... More >>

San Yun King's killer, one-man crime machine Larry Stewart, escapes California's Death Row thanks to a single juror holdout, D.A. decides

Stewart won't get the tour​Larry Stewart, the vicious crime machine who murdered the quiet, innocent, liquor store owner Sang Yun "Sam" Kim, severely beating and choking the South Los Angeles shopkeeper with his own belt -- then chemically burning him with bleach -- has escaped Death Row. Ste ... More >>

Ronzell Lane, L.A. Homicide No. 186: 20-Year-Old Man Fatally Shot in South L.A.

​ A 20-year-old man fatally shot September 9 has been identified as Ronzell Lane, according to records from the Los Angeles County Coroner's office. The shooting occurred on the 9100 block of Western Avenue in South Los Angeles. Detectives are searching for the gunman involved in the shooting. ... More >>

'EDC' Raver Teen Sasha Rodriguez Died From Ecstasy Use

FacebookSasha Rodriguez.​The death of a 15-year-old girl a few days after she attended the controversial Electric Daisy Carnival Rave in June was ruled to have been the direct result of ecstasy use, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner's office. Sasha Rodriguez died of "complications o ... More >>

Jerriell M. Wilborn, Sulema Wilborn, L.A. Homicide No.'s 169,170: Couple Gunned Down in South Los Angeles

​A man and a woman were fatally shot in a vehicle August 4 have been identified by the Los Angeles County Coroner. According to police, Jerriell M. Wilborn, 49, and his wife Sulema Wilborn, 51, were shot around 3:30 am West Slauson Avenue and Main Street near the Harbor Freeway. The couple was ... More >>

Harry Grey, L.A. Homicide No. 153: 62-year-old Man Died of Head Truama

Google Maps​A man who died on June 24 from head injuries sustained in a physical altercation with an unknown suspect was identified as 62-year-old Harry Grey. The altercation occurred on July 11, 2009 on the corner of 7th Street and San Julian in downtown Los Angeles, according to Lieutenant F ... More >>

Michael McGuire, L.A. Homicide No. 140: 21-year-old Man Fatally Shot at After-Prom Party in Venice

Google Maps​ A man who was fatally shot at an after-prom party has been identified as 21-year-old- Michael McGuire. The shooting occurred on Louella Avenue, south of Venice Blvd. around 1:30 a.m. on June 13, said Sgt. Dennis Beacham of LAPD's Pacific Station. The shooter in a passing vehicle ... More >>

Corey Haim Died Of Natural Causes, Coroner Says

​Despite the allegedly illegal prescription drugs authorities said were found in his home, actor Corey Haim died of natural causes, a coroner's report released Tuesday states. He died as a result of pneumonia, respiratory problems and heart trouble, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner ... More >>

Coroner: Los Feliz Teen Lily Burk Died from Fatal Wound to Neck

A Los Angeles County Coroner testified today in the brutal murder of Lily Burk, the 17-year-old Los Feliz teen who was allegedly kidnapped and killed by a parolee. Dr. Jeffrey P. Gutstadt testified at a preliminary hearing that the Oakwood School student had injuries from head to toe, including a ... More >>

Coroner Reports Lily Burk Died from Neck Wound

The Los Angeles County Coroner reports this morning that 17-year-old Lily Burk died from an "incised wound to neck." In other words, her neck was slashed. Burk, whose father is well-known music writer Greg Burk, also suffered traumatic injuries to her head as previously reported in local papers.Burk ... More >>

Fingerprints Link Parolee to Murder of Lily Burk, 17

The Los Angeles Police Department held a packed, late-morning press conference today, one day after they arrested a former convict who had been on parole since last August. Charlie Samuel, 50, has been charged with the murder of Lily Burk, 17. Detectives received confirmation Saturday that latent fi ... More >>

Los Angeles County Coroner Says Michael Jackson Autopsy Toxicology Rumors Wrong: It Will Take Time

Eric VanBeekMichael Jackson's toxicology and other drug tests will not be completed for weeks, and rumors that a celebrity "rush job" is underway are bunk, says Craig R. Harvey, Chief Coroner Investigator and Chief of Operations at the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner. "Is this rumor just n ... More >>

Coroner: Porn Star Marilyn Chambers Died of Natural Causes

Porn star Marilyn Chambers, whose body was found in her mobile home in Canyon Country last month, died of natural causes, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner. Porn Actress/Ivory Snow Girl: Marilyn Chambers Chambers, whose real name was Marilyn Ann Taylor, was discovered by her daughter ... More >>

Coroner: Dr. Dre's Son OD'ed on Heroin and Morphine

The Los Angeles County Coroner reported today that the son of hip hop record producer and rapper Dr. Dre died from an overdose of heroin and morphine. The drug tests had been pending for more than four months. The coroner's office wouldn't explain why it took so long for the report to be released -- ... More >>

Ben Stiller Steps In for Shattered Mark Ruffalo

A mystery still surrounds the death of the brother of movie actor Mark Ruffalo. Late this afternoon, the Los Angeles County Coroner reported that the cause of 39-year-old Scott Ruffalo's death is being deferred pending a toxicology report. Those results could take up to eight weeks. Scott Ruffalo, a ... More >>

Rapper Dr. Dre's Son Dead at 20

The Los Angeles County Coroner reported today that the son of hip hop record producer and rapper Dr. Dre has died. Andre Young Jr. was found dead at his home in Woodland Hills on Saturday morning. Young was out the previous night and returned home around 5:30 A.M., according to Assistant Chief Ed W ... More >>

Death of Raven, a Hollywood Beauty

The city's noir streets made her the star of her own tragedy, then took it all away.

Rapper Pimp C's Death Ruled An Accident

Rapper Pimp C, one of hip-hop's most influential figures, died accidentally due to a combination of cough medicine and his prior history of sleep apnea, according to new findings by the Los Angeles County Coroner. “Due to his sleep apnea along with his prescribed medication it resulted in him pa ... More >>

Christian Brando to Be Autopsied

The death of Christian Brando is officially a Los Angeles County Coroner's case. According to sources, the coroner's office took possession of the 49-year-old troubled son of actor Marlon Brando earlier today after Brando's mother called for a full-investigation into his death, citing “suspicious ... More >>

Skeletons in The Closet

Your average county coroner’s gift shop

The Final Hours of Miguel Contreras

The 911 call said he went in for a card reading. But the death of the labor leader prompted a prostitution raid. What really went down at the botanica?

Coroner to the Suicides

After 20 years, David Campbell has seen enough

Fast Justice

Lessons from New York’s handling of a police shooting

Murdered Dreams

Son of peace activist dies in party shooting

Miracles and Pain

The life and death of Roman Gonzalez

Death Takes a Meeting

Excavating the Necropolis of Angels