Coroner report: County records second-most overdose deaths in 2021; homicides increase
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Washington County saw 106 drug-related deaths in 2021, the second-highest number of fatal overdoses on record.
Courtesy of the 2021 Washington County Coroner’s report
Fentanyl was found in 82% of all overdose deaths last year, according to this graphic included in the 2021 Washington County Coroner’s report.
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
The last time Washington County saw double-digit homicide deaths was in 1994.
Tim Warco
Drug overdoses continue to play a significant role in deaths in Washington County, according to the 2021 Washington County Coroner’s report.
According to data released last week by the coroner’s office, 106 drug-related deaths occurred in Washington County in 2021, the second-highest number of overdose fatalities on record.
Overdose deaths have increased 39% from 2018, when 76 fatalities were reported, to 2021. In 2019, 81 deaths were recorded, and in 2020, fatal overdoses increased to 102.
“It’s very alarming,” said Washington County Coroner S. Timothy Warco. “Those (overdose) numbers are indicative of the drug usage throughout Washington County, and Pennsylvania, and the U.S. It’s obviously very frustrating and discouraging because of the effort the government has put into trying to alert people that drugs on the street could be deadly.”
Fentanyl is the main culprit, said Warco. It was found in 82% of all overdose deaths.
Cocaine was present in 41% of fatal overdoses.
Increasingly, two or more drugs are present in overdoses.
Warco said that is because some drugs are deliberately cut with other substances, such as fentanyl and cocaine, which increases the potency and deadliness.
Seventy males were victims of overdose, while 36 females died.
Warco noted that when he became coroner in 1992, there were two drug overdose deaths recorded, both from prescription drugs.
“That, right there, tells the story of the opioid epidemic going on in this country,” said Warco. “And no one is immune from drugs or drug death, regardless of what family you come from. These numbers in the report are statistics, but each number represents an individual who has lost their life, and behind each individual is a family that is suffering. And we’re on the same pace as last year. I don’t see an end to it.”
Also in 2021, the number of homicides in Washington County more than doubled.
Ten homicides were committed in the county, up from four in 2020. All but one of the county’s homicide victims died from gunshots, according to Warco’s report.
The last time the county reached double digits in homicides was 1994.
In 2017, four people died from homicide; in 2018, five people were killed; and in 2019, three died at the hands of another.
Suicides in Washington County also were up in 2021. Thirty-eight people died by suicide, compared with 34 in 2020 and 32 in 2019. Of those deaths, 32 were males and six were females.
Warco’s report showed 21 motor vehicle fatalities occurred in 2021. Of those, 13 were auto accidents, two were all-terrain vehicles accidents, and five were motorcycle accidents.
Another notable statistic from the report pertained to autopsies.
The coroner’s office conducted 262 autopsies, 36 more than it conducted in 2020. It is the most autopsies the coroner’s office has ever performed. Warco said the number of autopsies is impacted by the number of drug overdose deaths.
In 1992, Warco’s first year as coroner, the office conducted 61 autopsies.
The Washington County coroner does not investigate every death in the county. The coroner’s office investigates homicides, suicides and accidents, and investigates natural deaths that are unexpected, unwitnessed or suspicious to determine the cause and manner of death.