top of page

THE CORONER REPORT PROJECT

Death under the U.S. Medical Examiner-Coroner System

This project investigates the history and current practices of the American death investigation system. I am working with impacted communities, social justice organizations, data scientists, legal scholars, and media to gather and analyze autopsies from individuals killed while in-police custody around the nation. This collaboration has produced several reports and is the basis for my forthcoming book, The Coroner's Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence (Beacon Press, 2025). Click here for the complete roster of BCS lab members.  

target_edited_edited.jpg

Data and Research Materials

Screen Shot 2021-03-04 at 3.09_edited.jp

Autopsy Reports Discussed in The Coroner's Silence

Screenshot 2025-05-12 at 1_edited.png

Nationwide List of Lost Lives

Screenshot 2025-05-12 at 1.44_edited.jpg

LA County In-Custody Death Data
(2008-2019)

 

Screenshot 2025-05-14 at 8.38.55 AM.png

Research Methodology
 

Reports

Dauphin County Report Cover Pg (image)_Page_01.jpg

"Deaths in Dauphin County Prison (Harrisburg, Penn.), 2008-2022"
2024

D94DFE8A-4560-4D1B-B553-E1C4A460A5CE.jpeg

"In-Custody Deaths in Ten MD Detention Centers, 2008-2019"
 2023
 
‬

Screen Shot 2023-05-03 at 10.36.23 PM.png

"Report: Los Angeles County Jail Deaths 2009"
 2023
 
‬

May 31_Facts Summary_Final PNG.png

"Natural Causes? 59 Autopsies Prove Otherwise"
 2022
 
‬

Media

Testimony for the MD State Senate

terence-keel-abc-jef-220624_1656102679999_hpEmbed_16x9_992.jpeg

"Medical examiners impacted by relationships with police, study finds"

terence-keel-on-tavis-smiley-bGfxvwjYK9l-t0xgYLWEBI1.1400x1400.jpg



Terence Keel on "Tavis Smiley"
 

download (1).webp

"UCLA Researchers Say More Than Half of 'Natural' LA Jail Deaths Studied Show Evidence Of Physical Harm" 
 

image_6487327-e1654737127705.webp

"Study of Inmate Autopsies Renews Call to Close LA County Sheriff’s Men’s Central Jail" 

Screen Shot 2022-06-02 at 11.39.30 AM.png

"Study: Deaths of Black and Latino men in LA County jails misclassified"
 
 
‬

Screen Shot 2022-06-02 at 11.39.35 AM.png

"Study: Deaths of Black and Latino Men in LA County Jails Misclassified"

 
‬

Collaborators

Picture_20200806_201141759 2.jpg

Helen Jones

Community Activist and Organizer | Robert Wood Johnson IRL Fellow

IMG_3499.jpeg

Jonah Walters
PhD

BCS Lab Postdoctorate Fellow

WV1P4xq__400x400.jpg

Lauren Brown PhD, MPH

Gerontologist  and Data Scientist|  USC

P1122528.jpg

Maggie Woodruff
JD

Legal Scholar and Anthropologist | University of California, Irvine

imageedit_2_5559484292.png

Aziza Ahmed PhD

Professor of Law | Boston University School of Law

headshot_2021.jpg

Anna Robinson-Sweet

Information Studies PhD Researcher | University of California, Los Angeles

carmen-1024x1536.jpeg

Carmen Johnson PhD

 Founder of Helping Ourselves to Transform

Rossi.jpeg

Elizabeth Rossi

Lawyer and Director of Civil Rights Corp's Strategic Initiatives 

Partners

Secondary_DPNow_2x.png
RWJ logo.jpeg
NLM_White.png
RSFLogo.png
Screen Shot 2021-12-06 at 8.49.17 AM.png
HOTT-logo (5)new.jpg

© 2025 Terence Keel

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
bottom of page