Latest news with #PalmBeachCountyMedicalExaminer'sOffice
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
46% drop in opioid overdose deaths in Palm Beach County in 2024, medical examiner reports
BOCA RATON — Describing it as one of the most significant year-to-year drops Florida has seen, state and local officials announced a 46% drop in opioid overdose deaths in Palm Beach County last year compared to in 2023. The county reported 224 confirmed opioid deaths in 2024, compared to 414 in 2023, according to statistics from the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office. The office has not released a final total for 2024, as 13 cases from November and December are still under review. But officials hosting a forum on the opioid epidemic Tuesday at Florida Atlantic University said the reported decline shows signs of progress. "This is a historic drop in deaths," said Andrae Bailey, founder and CEO of the Orlando-based organization, Project Opioid, which hosted the forum. "It means that what the community is doing here is working. I think what's clear is the distribution of naloxone, along with community partners offering treatment for people who are struggling, it's working." The Florida Shuffle: State's failure to oversee addiction treatment leaves patients in deadly danger Former Palm Beach County commissioner Melissa McKinlay and former State Attorney Dave Aronberg were among those who spoke during the forum, discussing the county's efforts to stem the opioid crisis. Aronberg, who ended his tenure as state attorney in January after serving three terms, reflected on his time in the office, including the formation of the county's Sober Homes Task Force nearly a decade ago to combat unscrupulous treatment facilities. "We were able to make the progress we have accomplished by shutting the pill mills, passing state laws," he said. "By shutting down the drug treatment centers that were rogue. By shutting down the sober homes that were unscrupulous." Aronberg said the number of emergency calls to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue for suspected overdoses has significantly declined since the task force was formed in 2016. From the courts: Sober home owner's 'lies' earn new trial for doctor accused of millions in insurance fraud When asked what solutions he would propose to fight the opioid crisis growing forward, Aronberg stressed the need for reforms at the federal level, in particular changes to the reimbursement model for treatment providers under the Affordable Care Act. "I would change the Affordable Care Act from an old school fee-per-service reimbursement model, where the more services you provide, the more money you get paid, and I would change it to what have now for everything else within our health care system that Medicare pays for," he said. "We have outcome-based reimbursement so the better hospitals with better results get paid more. … We've got to create some sort of mechanism to reward the good providers and punish the bad ones." McKinlay said the decline in opioid deaths is encouraging, but stressed that the county and state continue to face challenges as newer illicit drugs become available. She noted a significant jump in overdose deaths in the county nearly a decade ago. According to federal Centers for Disease Control & Prevention statistics dating to 2013, drug overdose deaths in Palm Beach County rose from 335 cases in 2015 to a peak of 636 cases in 2017. "I'm not going to forget that graph that at one point showed that number in the low 300s, and what it did two years later, almost 650 people who lost their lives," McKinlay said. "The drug dealers will find a new drug. That drug will be resistant to Narcan. We need to make sure that we have resources in place so we never see that 600-plus number again. " Bailey said that while the number of overdose deaths has declined, drug overdoses in general have increased, a trend seen statewide. "People are still struggling with drugs and alcohol at a historic rate," he said. "The mental health crisis is driving that. On one hand, we have to applaud the reduction in deaths. On the other hand, we have to realize that people are still struggling with drugs more than ever." Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@ and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Opioid overdose deaths down sharply in Palm Beach County during 2024
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Yahoo
'It's a relief': Modern DNA tests help police crack 75-year-old woman's cold-case homicide
RIVIERA BEACH — For nearly three decades, Shatonda Stewart has lived with the question of whether the person who killed her grandmother would ever be found. Now she may have an answer. On Feb. 10, Riviera Beach police announced that a cold-case investigation has led detectives to the man they believe to be responsible in the April 28, 1995, murder of 75-year-old Earnestine Mortimore. Police and city officials announced that a grand jury indicted Willie Rogers on Jan. 30 in connection to Mortimore's death. He is facing a charge of first-degree murder. Rogers, whose age was not available immediately available, is incarcerated in Alachua County in an unrelated case, Riviera Beach police said. It was not immediately clear when he will appear before a judge in Palm Beach County. 'Travesty of justice': Teen driver who hit, killed Boynton jogger sentenced for misdemeanor Investigators say Mortimore was killed in an apparent burglary at her home on the 1400 block of West 36th Street, just south of the Lake Park town border. At the time of her death, the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office ruled that she died of strangulation and multiple injuries due to blunt trauma. Stewart said Monday's announcement has brought a sense of closure to the family. "I just never thought the case would be solved, even though we deep down inside know what happened and why," she said. "It's a relief. We're happy." Investigators said Rogers lived in Mortimore's neighborhood and, along with another man, was identified as a suspect by other neighbors during the initial stages of the investigation. Detectives at the time interviewed both men and obtained DNA samples from them. Both men denied any involvement and were subsequently released. Kings Point shooting: Golfer who shot man in ankle, beat him with club gets split decision at trial Within a couple of years, the case went cold as detectives were unable to collect any additional evidence against Rogers. Riviera Beach Police Chief Michael Coleman said Monday his department's cold-case unit reopened the case in 2023 using new leads in advancements in forensic technology. The department created the unit in November 2022 to handle unsolved cases dating as far back as the 1960s. "I want everyone to know in this community that as long as we have the resources and the means to follow up cases. We will continue to follow those cases and those leads in this agency" Coleman said. "And we're going to aggressively seek justice for the individuals who were victimized going back 30, 40, 50 years." Cold-case Detective John MacVeigh said a blood draw collected from Rogers during the initial stages of the investigation gave detectives the evidence that would ultimately link him to the crime. MacVeigh, a former FBI special agent and Jupiter police officer, said blood draws were more common in the 1990s because of technology available at the time. Arson at PGA National: Dwyer senior felt 'disrespected,' torched classmate's car, police say "In 1995, DNA was brand new," he said. "They weren't necessarily doing mouth swabs because they did not know what that meant, so a lot of these types of cases, the only thing the labs could do was blood-type cases. Back then they were doing blood draws that they were going to test against anything they had at the scene." In May 2023, detectives sent several pieces of evidence from the murder investigation to the Bode Forensic Technology lab in Virginia for further DNA testing. Just over a year later, DNA test results identified Rogers as the primary suspect. Stewart said her grandmother helped to raise her and was often the one who would wake in the mornings to get her ready for school. " 'The early bird gets the worm.' That's what she used to always tell us," Stewart said, recalling one of her grandmother's favorite sayings. Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@ and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: DNA tests bring arrest in cold-case homicide of woman after 30 years
