LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Autopsy reports rarely come with barbed comments. So eyebrows rose when the autopsy results of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez<\/a> were released with a statement from the Los Angeles County chief medical examiner saying it was \u201cunfathomable\u201d her grieving parents had to wait months to learn how their daughter died.<\/p>\n The autopsy performed on the dismembered body found in a Tesla in the Hollywood Hills<\/a> had been sealed by a court order in the investigation that led to murder charges for singer D4vd<\/a>. Dr. Odey Ukpo’s comment with the report was his most pointed effort yet to emphasize his office\u2019s independence from police and prosecutors, as well as his desire to make as much death information public as soon as possible.<\/p>\n D4vd, who has pleaded not guilty<\/a>, this week faces a crucial preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence for a trial. Ukpo’s agency, which determined Rivas Hernandez died from stab wounds, plays a major role, as it has in other prominent cases, including following the death of \u201cFriends\u201d star Matthew Perry<\/a> and the killings of director Rob Reiner<\/a> and his wife, photographer Michele Singer Reiner<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ukpo, 46, sat for a recent interview with The Associated Press<\/a> in the building where he performed autopsies for nearly a decade before getting the head role in 2023. He has always welcomed the celebrity cases that Los Angeles brings, saying the scrutiny they receive and the likelihood of misinformation spreading are strong incentives to do careful, irrefutable work. And they provide an opportunity to show what his office does and what kind of dangers the community may face.<\/p>\n \u201cI should be able to anticipate the strongest arguments or the most interesting questions by the work that I\u2019ve done,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I haven\u2019t, then something\u2019s missing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLife is complicated, but death is simple,\u201d Ukpo said.<\/p>\n Ukpo doesn’t believe sealing autopsy reports helps police investigations, including in the killing of Celeste.<\/p>\n \u201cThat goes completely against our mission,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s so important for us to release the information that she did not die from something natural, she did not die from drugs, she was stabbed. And then we start to look back at what made her vulnerable to be in that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n A court-ordered security hold still seals the Reiner autopsies. Authorities said immediately after their deaths that they had been stabbed by their son, who has pleaded not guilty, but little information has followed. Ukpo said he would discuss the findings \u2014 if he was allowed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Reiners\u2019 case is one that\u2019s straightforward,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s unclear to me what sort of information we have that would ruin the case.\u201d<\/p>\n Sometimes there is no good reason for secrecy, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople say: \u2018Why would they get the information out there? Because then the case is just going to go awry.\u2019 But awry? How? What information?\u201d he said, adding: \u201cThe killer knows what they did.\u201d<\/p>\n The LA County Sheriff\u2019s Department said in a statement that security holds \u201care rarely requested and are carefully reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine whether temporarily withholding the autopsy report is necessary to preserve sensitive investigative information.\u201d It said the reports can contain details \u201cthat only the person responsible would know,\u201d meaning detectives can use that knowledge to assess the credibility of witness statements and uncover false confessions.<\/p>\n The Los Angeles Police Department, which handled the D4vd and Reiner cases, did not respond to a request for comment, and the district attorney’s office declined comment.<\/p>\n Ukpo was appointed chief medical examiner-coroner in 2023, becoming the agency’s first Black leader since it was founded in 1850. His staff responds to about 13,000 sudden, unexpected and premature deaths per year.<\/p>\n The \u201ccoroner\u201d part of his title<\/a> was dropped soon after his appointment and Ukpo supported that change, saying a coroner is usually an elected official \u2014 often also the county sheriff \u2014 but not a doctor.<\/p>\n \u201c’Coroner’ just kind of confused our purpose and suggested that we were within a law enforcement agency,\u201d Ukpo said. \u201cIt\u2019s so important to establish our independence.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrew Bernstein, a longtime New York criminal defense attorney who is not involved in any of Ukpo\u2019s cases, said \u201cbuddy-buddy\u201d relationships can easily develop between medical examiners and law enforcement.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re dealing with the cops all the time,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re using the same language.\u201d<\/p>\n That relationship can hurt a prosecutor’s case, he said, because \u201cjurors pick up on that all the time\u201d and may perceive a testifying medical examiner as biased.<\/p>\n But, Bernstein said, \u201cyou don\u2019t want so much independence\u201d that the medical examiner makes decisions regardless of the wants and needs of police and prosecutors.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t want a rock star chief medical examiner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n At age 6, Ukpo \u2014 who grew up in Anaheim not far from Disneyland \u2014 had wanted to be a homicide detective.<\/p>\n But when he met his family physician, he \u201cthought it was really cool how he would work with his hands, do dirty work, work with blood\u201d but \u201ccould be very professional in his office, in a suit, in a tie.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere you go, that\u2019s the formula for a forensic pathologist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Very few medical students want to make autopsies their life’s work. He said with a laugh that declaring his intentions \u201cmade for interesting medical school interviews.\u201d<\/p>\n His education included stints at Loyola University in Chicago, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and with the medical examiner in Albuquerque, New Mexico.<\/p>\n Ukpo performed autopsies on rapper Mac Miller<\/a>, actor Tommy Lister Jr.<\/a>, and model and actor Kim Porter<\/a>, the former longtime partner of Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe medical examiner pushes back on police secrecy<\/h2>\n
A change to his title underscores Ukpo’s independence<\/h2>\n
How he decided to make autopsies his life\u2019s work<\/h2>\n
Celebrity autopsies hold meaning beyond LA County<\/h2>\n