Deaths, homicides increased in EBR in 2012, coroner says

In his office’s annual report released today, East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner William “Beau” Clark says there were six more homicides in the parish compared to the previous year, while there were 400 more natural deaths investigated and 25 more accidental deaths. A total of 96 homicides were investigated by Clark’s office last year, in addition to 2,509 natural deaths and 148 accidental deaths. Also, at 24, there were two more infant deaths, and at 45, two more suicides in the parish last year. The number of undetermined cases was unchanged from 2011. Overall, the Coroner’s Office investigated 2,824 deaths in 2012, 435 more than the year previous. Clark’s budget expenditures in 2012 totaled just more than $1.7 million, which he says included money to buy three new vehicles, install a security system and buy investigative and pathological supplies. Clark also says he increased the number of full-time death investigators to seven, from three, within five months of being on the job. He took over as coroner on March 26, 2012. You can see the full report here.