Data released by the Champaign County Coroner’s Office shows there were fewer deaths last year compared with 2022, but some causes of death like gun violence and drug overdoses remain prominent.
The primary duty of the coroner is to investigate deaths and analyze crime scenes, as well as to perform autopsies and identify the deceased. Champaign County Coroner Stephen E. Thuney performed 166 autopsies in 2023 at an average of 14 a month, according to the 2023 annual report.
Not all deaths require autopsies, however. Autopsies are only performed by the coroner when there is a death that could involve foul play, for public safety reasons, or when requested by the deceased’s family.
There were 1,913 deaths reported by Thuney’s office in 2023, a 9% decrease from 2,102 in 2022.
Out of the 552 coroner investigations last year, about 60% of the deaths were from natural causes. Accidental deaths, which can include vehicular collisions and unintentional overdoses, made up about 28%.
Just under 3% of investigations determined homicide as the cause of death, with 16 total. Suicide was more prominent, with 32 total, or just under 6%.
Out of the 16 homicides, 11 were linked to gunshot wounds.
The coroner’s office assisted other jurisdictions by performing 11 death notifications, making up about 2% of all coroner investigations last year.
Thuney is a Republican who ran for re-election this November and lost to Laurie Brauer, who was deputy coroner.
Thuney is a member of the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners with extensive training in death investigations. Having worked as chief deputy coroner since 2010, Thuney was sworn in as County Coroner in January 2024.
Amid the race for the Champaign County Coroner position, Thuney requested additional funding from the Legislative Board of Champaign County, which stands in charge of his office’s budget.
The coroner’s workload consists of 1,900 to 2,000 death reports per year.
The budget for the coroner’s office has trended upwards in the past four years, however, having increased about 30% from $615,529 in 2020 to $805,148 in 2024. The increase comes, in part, from the hiring of several employees at the office.
This addition will be meant to lighten Thuney’s workload, meant to give him more time to play his public role in signaling local health issues. According to Thuney’s predecessor, Duane Northrup, the long hours and late nights on call are taxing.
The position also assists in identifying many health-related social issues and keeping track of certain trends in the community.
Thuney’s office reported wounds by firearm have been the most common method of homicide in the Champaign County area for the past two years. It is followed by stab wounds and blunt trauma.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, opioid overdoses increased 8.2% from 2021 to 2022, with over 3,000 Illinois residents dying from opioid overdoses occurring in 2022.
The coroner reports and records overdose data in addition to performing autopsies and creating toxicology reports to determine why a death may have occurred.
The most common opioid seen among overdose cases is fentanyl, reaching a monthly peak in March 2023 following seven deaths resulting from an overdose.
However, opioids are not the only drugs that the coroner’s data has reported being an issue in the community.
Methamphetamine and cocaine have been recorded by the coroner as having caused up to four overdose deaths per month. Even more common than the sole use of these drugs is the use of polysubstances or the mixing of different psychoactive materials. The mixing of different substances caused over 30 deaths in Champaign County last year.
The coroner’s office does not work alone in its many duties. It often collaborates with other agencies and county departments, including social services, public health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
View the full annual report here:
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the results of the 2024 election.