Session 10 with Ms. Rosa Vega

Rosa Vega is a certified Diplomate Registered Death Investigator. She holds a Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration with a focus on Forensic Science Administration from Loyola University in New Orleans. Alongside her role as Coroner, Rosa teaches a Death Investigations course at San Jose State University. She is deeply committed to the medicolegal field and brings a wealth of experience, having investigated over 3,000 deaths, including mass shootings, airplane accidents, and homicides.

Journey to Becoming a Coroner

• Why she became a coroner?

  • Went to chiropractor with mom at 12 and became really interested in chiropractors book => motivated her to go into pre med in college

  • Changed major => interviewed detectives and was intrigued by the death scenes they showed her => wanted to work in death investigation

  • Likes being a coroner because she likes investigating crime scenes, the variation in the job, and providing closure to people who need it after dealing with a loved one’s death

• Death Investigators

  • Responding to homicides, motor vehicle accidents, suicides, etc.

  • Job is to take photos of crime scenes - eyes and ears for medical examiners

    • Coroners ≠ medical examiners

      • Medical examiners have to have MDs

• Studied physical anthropology at Loyola University

  • Learned about what bones belong to which demographics

    • Concentration in forensic science

• Went to Coroner Academy

• Ongoing training for all coroners - did infectious diseases training

  • Currently seeing a lot of fentanyl overdose cases

• To become a coroner need to specialize in pathology => need to specialize further into forensic pathology => need to take board exam within a year

• Supervisor at Santa Clara, working under the doctors

• Currently department head at Sacramento with doctors who work for her and teaches courses at San Jose State

• Teaches at San Jose State

  • Spoke at a Forensic Science class at San Jose State, and mentor thought she was very good at it => got a master degree

    • Masters degree helped her get a higher position at work

  • For 13 years was a volunteer guest speaker

  • Then, started teaching a death investigations class at San Jose State => has been teaching for 5 years

• Representative of the Medical Examiner - Coroner’s Office

What coroners do?

• Determine cause and manner of death

  • Death investigators - “boots on the ground” because they go to the crime scenes and report back to medical examiners

• In the US, coroners are the only legally allowed touch dead bodies

• Need to notify families (legal next-of-kin) of people who die

• Degrees in criminal justice or biology or chemistry could be useful if you want to become a death investigator

• Coroners need to have thick skin, good communication skills, and a background that fits with the job (e.g. degree in criminal justice)

Death Scenes Discussion

• Death on the free way

  • Questions that need to be asked

    • Who is the person?

    • How were they hit by the car?

    • How do we identify the body?

      • Usually fingerprinting

      • If patients can be visually recognizeable, next-of-kin need to be called to identify body

  • Blunt force trauma - body dragged on the free way (chunks of bone and organs)

• Bedroom Scene

  • Sharp force trauma - blood all over the room: on the wall, the bed, the floor, the bathroom

  • Found a note of intent => suicide

  • Homicide v. Suicide:

    • Suicides have hesitation wounds and homicides have defense wounds

• Partially skeletonize person

  • Found time of death with the help of forensic anthropologist

• Road crime scene

  • Truck tried to swerve a stop signs at a T intersection and saw skid marks

  • Biker killed because driver wasn’t paying attention

Advice for High Schoolers

• If you are interested in becoming death investigations, do forensics courses

  • Took night class at San Jose State during high school as electives

• Invest in higher education because it helps you reach a better position at work and is an investment in yourself

• In high school, did internships with police officers and coroners office to see if she could handle being a coroner

  • Recommends shadowing pathologists, getting involved in science clubs, and volunteer at hospitals

  • It’s important to get real world experience so you can know if your dream career is really a fit for you