ANATOMY

of a Coroner’s Office

The 2010s were not a banner decade for St. Tammany Parish. Considered relatively squeaky clean compared to New Orleans and Baton Rouge, it suddenly seemed rife with corruption after various misdeeds led to the convictions of several high-ranking elected officials, including a district attorney, sheriff, former mayor and even the coroner.

Wait, the coroner? It makes perfect sense, actually. What better place to conduct a little thievery than in the mysterious, shadowy world of the Coroner’s Office? What even goes on in that place, other than autopsies?

I got my chance to find out when our current St. Tammany Parish Coroner, Dr. Charles Preston, graciously agreed to chat with me and take me on a tour of the facility.

Before I share what I learned, it’s important to get to know the man who took over the office in 2014. A quick perusal of Dr. Preston’s resume reveals a substantial career in both clinical and academic settings. In addition to working as a physician at various local hospitals, he was an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at LSU, and still found time to get published in a slew of medical journals. He also owns an urgent care facility in Slidell. So, he certainly looks great on paper, but what about the actual man?

I’m not going to lie. All my previous knowledge of the coroner profession came from my fascination with true and fictional crime. Thanks to Law & Order, Tana French novels and yes, even some trashy television documentaries, I accepted the stereotype of coroners as scrappy, emotionally detached, tightly wound, vaguely egotistical lone wolves who hate when interlopers dare to invade their morbid sanctuaries.

I’m pleased to report that not a bit of that caricature applies to Dr. Preston. Not only is he friendly, relaxed, open and modest, he also spent three hours letting me pick his brain and poke around the facility. (He also indulgently fielded a few questions about the misdeeds of his predecessor and a contentious, on-going legal tug-of-war between his office and Parish Government, but those are topics for another day.)

Dr. Preston was all set to retire when a friend talked him into running for this office in the midst of a big scandal. Was damage control the first order of business?

“The notion that there was corruption from top to bottom was just not the case. I inherited something that was fundamentally sound and already had some good talent.” That being said, he admitted, ”When I first came in, I set out to throw the doors open and show transparency. I also wanted to let citizens know this office isn’t just about death.”

It’s a bit shocking to learn that Louisiana is one of only four states that require coroners to be physicians, unless of course, no physicians are willing to run for the office. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that a Coroner’s Office could ostensibly be run by a dry cleaner or hairstylist. Or perhaps even a writer who was, at best, a solid-C biology student.

Many coroners in the state work only part-time and they stick to the mandates, but I quickly learned that Dr. Preston and his staff have gone above and beyond to reshape St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office (STPCO) into a vastly different place, where fiscal responsibility, efficiency and community outreach play enormous roles.

When I emerged from the building after my extensive visit, my brain was totally addled. How in the world was I going to tackle and coherently share the volumes of information I’d received? I decided to use STPCO’s motto, “Science, Service, Compassion” as a means to, well, dissect the office and sort and label all the bits and pieces I’d collected (not unlike their so-called “gumbo room,” which stores rows and rows of highly organized jars of organ and tissue samples.). Before my visit, I’d taken those three words to mean that they serve the community by using science to investigate deaths, and that they treat the bodies and families with compassionate respect. While all of that is true, there’s way more to it.

The Science

In my estimation, science represents the brain of this entity. It’s not the brain’s job to feel or emote, it’s simply to think and calculate and come up with logical, impartial conclusions that are admissible in a court of law.

It goes without saying that science is the key component in performing autopsies, as well as analyzing evidence collected from a death or crime scene. STPCO had both in-house DNA and toxicology labs when Dr. Preston took over, but he made some major changes. He discovered it would save an inordinate amount of time and money to outsource toxicology, but the DNA lab was another story.

Prior to the DNA lab’s construction 10 years ago, this sort of testing was handled by the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab in Baton Rouge, which continually struggles with a staggering 18-month backlog. The vast majority of Louisiana parishes still rely on the state lab because they don’t have their own DNA lab, but thanks to a voter-approved millage that passed back in 2004, STPCO has the means to process DNA in a fraction of the time.

Dr. Preston wound up hiring additional analysts and technicians to completely eliminate any backlog. Why is this a priority?

“DNA cuts both ways,” Dr. Preston explained. “If you’re guilty, it’s going to be really hard to argue about it. But if you’re innocent, it’s going to exonerate you. If you’re in jail for something you didn’t do, do you want to sit there for two or three days, or 18-24 months? It’s not just that person, but the entire family that’s affected.”

It’s also a deterrent for criminals who consider traveling here from elsewhere and it cuts down on how many cases go to trial. When faced with damning, almost-instantaneous DNA evidence, most guilty defendants just opt to go ahead and plead guilty. This saves the parish the expense of a lengthy trial, saves prospective jurors time and hassle, and of course, it spares survivors and families the agony of having to relive a nightmare.

A real-life example of the value of such a resource dates back 20 years. Due to the serious backlog at the state DNA lab, identification of serial killer Derrick Todd Lee was significantly delayed, allowing him more time to terrorize Baton Rouge and claim additional victims. But it’s not just about catching bad guys and exonerating good guys. It took STPCO only 26 hours to identify the victims of a double homicide in Covington last fall. The bodies had been burned beyond recognition, so the quick identification of the individuals saved their families the additional torment of prolonged uncertainty.

Having both our own DNA lab and a lower number of murders and rapes than the bigger parishes also frees up human and scientific resources to investigate property damage and theft. Try asking Orleans parish to scour your car for the genetic material of the perpetrator who busted out your car window and stole your laptop.

The Service

To me, service is the skeletal system of the office. It’s the basic, no-frills, mechanical foundation upon which everything else is built. What’s the job and who’s going to do it?

First, the who. In addition to Dr. Preston, the staff is composed of a deputy coroner, forensic pathologists, certified death investigators, morgue technicians, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE), DNA analysts, administrative staff, a chaplain corps and even some lovable canine ambassadors, who spread good will in the community and moral support in the office.

As for the job, Louisiana law states that the coroner “shall either view the body or make an investigation into the cause and manner of death” in cases involving suspicious, unexpected or unusual deaths. Among other things, the Coroner’s Office’s team of trained investigators are charged with freezing the scene, then ascertaining the circumstances, cause and manner of death, and working with local law enforcement and forensic pathologists, who decide if additional exams or autopsies are necessary.They also have to find and notify the next of kin.

It may come as a surprise, as it did to me, that the coroner’s jurisdiction also involves mental health and sexual assault. The office’s mental health division deals with mentally ill individuals that may be a danger to themselves or others, and connects them with the appropriate experts. The team is made up of a full-time mental health director, who’s a trained psychiatrist, plus contract psychiatrists, an outreach coordinator and investigators. This division helps to evaluate mental health emergencies and begin the Order of Protective Custody process, when necessary. Dr. Preston made changes to this process, too.

“When a doctor from this office goes to evaluate a patient in crisis, that doctor is a psychiatrist. When I took office in 2014, there was one psychiatrist, and she saw all the patients on the west side of the parish. A forensic pathologist and a retired orthopedist used to see everyone on the east side of the parish.” Yikes.

Where sexual assault is concerned, Louisiana law requires the coroner or a designee to perform the forensic medical examinations of all alleged victims. The St. Tammany Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) team has been designated the lead entity our region, which also includes Washington, Tangipahoa, Livingston and St. Helena Parishes (hospitals in these other parishes pay STPCO for SANE services). They travel to the hospital with a patient advocate to meet the victim, unlike in other parishes where victims are often sent to a designated hospital where busy, distracted hospital staff struggle to find time to perform sexual assault examinations in between treating patients in life-or-death situations.

“When I was working in the emergency department, I was trying to balance heart attacks, gunshot wounds and car accidents,” Dr. Preston explained. “Sexual assault was not my top priority. It would be a 10 to 15-minute exam. These SANE nurses are focused on this one patient and they bring a very high level of expertise. They collect and turn over all evidence we think is probative, Plus, they’re qualified as experts to testify in court. So, they can take the patient from the moment of the examination all the way to court.”

The Compassion

While the STPCO is exceptionally respectful of the dead and their families, including draping American flags over military veterans while they’re housed in the facility and raising money to build a dignified mausoleum for unclaimed human remains, the compassion goes much deeper. It speaks to the heart of this office that they continually go way above and beyond the legal mandates by creating multiple proactive community outreach and education programs, many of which are hosted in the facility’s media room. These “life safety initiatives,” designed to prevent tragedy, address issues like swimming pool safety, burn prevention, infant sleep safety, shaken baby syndrome, the opioid crisis, human trafficking, carbon monoxide poisoning and teen drug and sexual awareness.

Suicide prevention is especially important to Dr. Preston, not only because a lack of state funding for suicide prevention is a key factor in Louisiana’s growing suicide rates, but because he lost two brothers this way. While the office regularly collaborates with all sorts of local non-profits, it maintains a close working relationship with the St. Tammany Outreach for the Prevention of

Suicide (STOPS) program by hosting suicide prevention education classes for the public and first responders in their community meeting room, plus instructors on staff volunteer to help teach suicide intervention and prevention to teenagers. They also work directly with the Local Outreach to the Survivors of Suicide (LOSS) Team to get traumatized survivors access to counseling and mental health services.

In addition to all of that, the office recently co-sponsored an unprecedented live and virtual suicide symposium that allowed mental health professionals to share ideas and information which will be used to create a huge online database of resources for both agencies and the public.

In another example of non-mandated compassion, Dr. Preston was not content to employ a single, part-time chaplain to counsel traumatized families and survivors, He decided to recruit a diverse group of volunteers to represent various faiths. Trained in Critical Incident Stress Management, a member of this corps is on-call 24/7 to attend death scenes in each side of the parish when requested by the family or an investigator. They can also guide family members to a safe place while investigators perform necessary postmortem tasks.

Is your head spinning? This office is not only responsible for more than I ever knew, but Dr. Preston accepted the challenge of rehabbing its tarnished image and used it as an opportunity to enhance and expand its purpose and reach.

He summed up STPCO’s mission thusly, “We are making a very concerted effort to educate the public that we’re not just about death investigation. We’re all these other things, too. I think we’re the best Coroner’s Office in the entire state, and frankly that’s because we’re supported by a millage. And we want everyone to benefit from it in every possible way.”

I was tempted to keep the anatomy and dissection metaphors going by referring to my summation as autopsy results or a post-mortem, but the STPCO is way too much of a living, breathing entity to imply otherwise. I also wanted to be sure this didn’t come across as some sort of political endorsement, as Dr. Preston holds an elected office, but it’s really hard to sing the praises of this extraordinary office without giving credit to the man who’s converted it. If you ask him, he’ll demur and call it a collaborative effort. This is certainly true, but to me this kind of transformation and collaboration can only happen when leadership is focused on integrity and compassion.

Miller

Just a few weeks into the new year, and good things are already happening here in Tangipahoa!

Over the last few weeks, we’ve announced an incoming industry, a major road expansion, and our team is currently gearing up to welcome high school athletes from around the state to compete in the LHSAA Championships. These improvements do not happen easily. Each of these projects represents partnerships between our parish leadership and other community agencies. Together we are making a di�erence in the lives of our residents!

Tangipahoa Parish is truly on the move! Each day, we are working diligently to help our residents and businesses enjoy an even greater quality of life. In 2023, look for improved tra�c patterns and roadway enhancements throughout the parish. We are excited to be building two new roadways—the first, a new access point to accommodate the many athletes and visitors at the Chappapeela Sports complex in Hammond. We are also mid-build on the long-sought expanded East Mulberry Street, which will alleviate congestion on LA 16 and provide muchneeded secondary access for visitors to the Tangipahoa Parish Courthouse.

These two projects are examples of the many city-parish and intergovernmental partnerships we employ in Tangipahoa Parish. Working together, we accomplish more for our people. It’s just one more reason why Tangipahoa is truly the best place to be.

I hope that everyone’s 2023 got o� to a good start and wish everyone a blessed new year. This past holiday season was a successful one for Slidell, filled with holiday cheer and plenty of family-friendly events for the community to enjoy.

As we enter carnival season, I would like to invite you, your family, and friends to come experience Mardi Gras in Slidell. Grab your lawn chairs, ice chests and king cakes and head on out to the parade route to enjoy all the parades rolling through Slidell:

Friday, Feb. 3, 6:30 p.m. – Krewe of Titans (Friday date only for 2023)

Saturday, Feb. 4, 6 p.m. – Krewe of Poseidon

Sunday, Feb. 5, 1 p.m. – Krewe of Antheia

Saturday, Feb. 11, 10 a.m. – Krewe De Paws

Sunday, Feb. 12, 1 p.m. – Krewe of Dionysus

Friday, Feb. 17, 6:30 p.m. – Krewe of Selene

I am proud that so many families choose to celebrate Mardi Gras season here in Slidell. It’s great to see so many smiling faces of family, friends, and neighbors along the parade route. I ask that everyone be respectful and help us maintain the family-friendly environment that people enjoy in Slidell. Please remember that city ordinances prohibit the presence of animals along the parade route. The use of silly string, streamers, fireworks, and other explosive devices are also restricted. It is important that we all work together to have a fun and safe carnival season.

For the complete parade schedule and more upcoming cultural events, please visit the City of Slidell’s website at MySlidell.com. Be sure to sign up for our email notifications to stay updated about all the latest news and events in Slidell. You can also follow the “City of Slidell, Louisiana” on Facebook.

Come enjoy the best that Slidell has to o�er during Mardi Gras season. Laissez les bons temps rouler!