Authorities faced with limited space to store bodies awaiting autopsies are now bringing in a refrigerated cooler to help as the coronavirus pandemic surges in Hinds County.
Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart said Thursday that without a morgue space is running out to store victims of homicides, car crashes and other fatalities that require autopsies.
The surge in coronavirus cases and deaths in the county is also having an impact as bodies can no longer be sent to hospital morgues for temporary storage. Private facilities are also at capacity, the coroner said.
Hinds County continues to see more cases than any other county in the state, and now has the third-highest death toll from the virus.
Several other states are facing similar limits on space as coronavirus cases surge and the death toll overwhelms coroners and medical examiners.
While those cases stem primarily from the oubreak, the issue facing Stewart is unique to Hinds County. The need for extra space comes as homicides, car crashes and other fatalities add up and the State Medical Examiner's Office is unable to keep up, the coroner said.
As of July 21, there have been 57 homicides in Jackson since the beginning of the year putting the city on pace for a record-breaking year.
There were three homicides on the Fourth of July alone.
And with Jackson's high homeless and indigent population, it can take weeks for authorities to track down the next of kin to determine where to send the body, whether they died of natural causes or otherwise.
Medical Examiner faces backlog of cases
Another problem: the state crime lab, which is facing staff shortages, according to a report by WLBT-TV, is now unable to take in cases over the weekend or late at night or early in the morning, the coroner said.
Grisham-Stewart said the office has cut ts hours to receive new cases and that has led to an increasing backlog at the facility. That means bodies sent for autopsy from across the state are often stored in temporary refrigerated coolers, sometimes for up to two and a half weeks.
When the office reopens, it faces an even bigger backlog of cases.
The coroner used the Fourth of July weekend as an example.
"Coroners across the state are having to wait before they can send someone to the lab. Over the Fourth of July weekend, for example, no cases could be accepted after 4 p.m. Friday until 8 a.m. Monday. By the time Monday came, we had six bodies..." Stewart said.
"...I've been doing this for 21 years. They used to be able to accept a case 24 hours a day. 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. on the weekends are usually the busiest times for coroners, so you can imagine, we can have several deaths."
Shortage has taken emotional toll, coroner says
The lack of space isn't just a logistical problem for the county; it has also taken an emotional toll, said Grisham-Stewart.
"The families of these individuals are the ones who are going to suffer the greatest. The family won't see a loved one until they are released from the office to the funeral home," she said.
"It seems absurd to me to tell a family you can’t see your son. It's going to be two to two and half weeks until you can see your son," she continued.
County supervisors are expected to bring a refrigerated cooler this Friday. The mobile morgue can store about 40 bodies, she said.
Robert Graham, the president of the Hinds County Board of Supervisors, wasn't immediately available for comment.
Contact Justin Vicory at 769-572-1418 or jvicory@gannett.com. Follow @justinvicory on Twitter.
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