Kenosha County medical examiner reports decline in toxicology deaths, flags 2025 rise in motor-vehicle fatalities

Patty Malliard, the Kenosha County medical examiner, told the county Human Services Committee on March 3 that her office recorded 1,696 cases for 2025 — a higher total than the 1,658 count reported through the registrar’s deeds — because the medical examiner’s caseload includes bone finds and other cases that do not always pass through the registrar’s process.

"So there's two different numbers here," Malliard said, explaining the difference between the registrar’s count and the office’s case total. "Registered deeds is every death certificate that a Kenosha person dies here in Kenosha or a person dies in Kenosha County. Our number is higher."

Why it matters: the medical examiner’s tally is the working caseload used to triage autopsies, forensic reviews and public-health follow-ups. Malliard said autopsies for Kenosha are performed by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s office and that her office conducts external exams and medical-record reviews for other cases.

Mall iard told the committee that toxicology deaths in Kenosha have declined in recent years but that the county saw a change in the primary drugs detected in 2024. "In 2024 we had a flip because, like, fentanyl… and then in 2024 we had a flip where… cocaine became the front runner of what we're seeing," she said, adding that alcohol increasingly appears alongside other drugs.

Mall iard described the forensic testing process: scene evidence is an investigative clue, but determinations rely on postmortem blood, urine and vitreous testing performed by an accredited postmortem laboratory. Forensic pathologists then interpret amounts, histology and clinical findings to determine whether a drug contributed to death.

She said the largest age group for toxicity deaths is people between 31 and 60 and that the office tracks demographics by race, gender and military status. Mall iard reported five pending 2025 cases with outstanding lab results and said she did not expect a large change to the final toxicology totals once tests are complete.

On monthly totals, Mall iard provided recent figures for early 2026: "For January 2026, we had 168 deaths. February, 134. And then as of today, we're at 14 [for March]." She also told the committee that motor-vehicle deaths showed a substantial uptick in 2025 and that the motor-vehicle figure is likely final for the year.

The medical examiner said the office posts regular statistics on the county dashboard and is working with IT to make the dashboard more interactive for people who want to pull specific subgroups or monthly breakdowns.

Votes at a glance: the committee approved the minutes of the Feb. 3, 2026 meeting (motion by Supervisor Nordinian; second noted; voice vote recorded as "aye") and later approved a motion to adjourn (mover/second recorded in the minutes).