Autopsy Initiative
Free Autopsies for Police-Related Deaths
Our Panel of Board-Certified Pathologists
Dr. Cyril H. Wecht
Cyril H. Wecht is a medical-legal consultant and forensic pathologist, author and lecturer who served the people of Allegheny County as their elected coroner for 20 years. He has performed approximately 21,000 autopsies and reviewed or been consulted on approximately 40,000 additional post mortem examinations, including cases in several foreign countries. Dr. Wecht holds various faculty positions at the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University and Carlow University, and serves as chairman of the Advisory Board of The Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law. He is the author or co-author of more than 625 professional publications and editor or co-editor of 46 books, as well as co-author of the popular non-fiction book Cause of Death, Grave Secrets, Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?, Mortal Evidence, Tales from the Morgue, Final Exams. He has served as president of the American College of Legal Medicine and the American Academy of Forensic Science as well as chairman of the boards of trustees of both the American Board of Legal Medicine and the American College of Legal Medicine Foundation. Dr. Wecht is certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic, clinical and forensic pathology, and is a fellow of the College of American Pathologists, the American Society of Clinical Pathologists and the National Association of Medical Examiners. Formerly chairman of the Department of Pathology and president of the medical staff at St. Francis Central Hospital in Pittsburg, he received his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh and his law degree from the University of Maryland. Dr. Cyril Wecht’s autobiography “The Life and Deaths of Cyril Wecht: Memoirs of America’s Most Controversial Forensic Pathologist” recently published, and his book dealing with JFK assassination will be published in November, 2021.
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Dr. Allecia M. Wilson
Dr. Allecia M. Wilson received her B.S in Medical Technology from Michigan State University in Lansing, Michigan in 1999 and M.D. from the University of Michigan in 2004. She completed her residency training in Anatomic Pathology also at the University of Michigan (2004-2007). Dr. Wilson subsequently completed a Forensic Pathology Fellowship at the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office in Miami, Florida (2007-2008). Following completion in 2008, she served as the Deputy Medical Examiner of the Genesee County Medical Examiner’s Office based in Flint, Michigan (2008-2012). Dr. Wilson also held active teaching roles in Flint, Michigan serving as part-time faculty at Mott Community College and co-instructor of the Autopsy Assistant Certificate Program.
Dr. Wilson returned to the University of Michigan in 2012 as faculty supporting the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office based in Detroit, Michigan. Due to an academic interest in pediatrics, Dr. Wilson completed an additional fellowship in Pediatric and Perinatal Pathology at the University of Michigan (2013-2014). She currently holds a faculty position with the University of Michigan serving as the Director of Autopsy and Forensic Services and Chief Medical Examiner for Washtenaw and Livingston County Medical Examiner’s Offices. Dr. Wilson is active in numerous medicolegal, pediatric and community committees. Her clinical areas of interest include sudden death in infancy and childhood, pregnancy- related deaths, suicides in the pediatric population and in-custody deaths.
Dr. Roger A. Mitchell
Roger A. Mitchell, Jr. MD FCAP - Dr. Mitchell is board certified in Anatomic and Forensic Pathology by the American Board of Pathology and serves as Professor and Chair of Pathology at Howard University College of Medicine. He is the immediate past Chief Medical Examiner for Washington, DC where he served from 2014 to 2021. Just before his tenure ended as Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Mitchell was the only forensic pathologist in history to also serve as Interim Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice. He has performed approximately 1,500 forensic autopsy examinations and has testified as an expert witness in over 60 cases.
Dr. Mitchell has been published in 13 peer review journals, provided nearly 100 lectures on a myriad of forensic topics, has written two book chapters and serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of the Center for Policy Analysis & Research at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. His recent academic research on gunshot wounds is highlighted in the Journal of Acute Care Surgery and the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Mitchell also serves as Chair of the Task Force on Gun Violence Prevention for the National Medical Association. He co-authored the paper entitled The Violence Epidemic in the African American Community: A Call by the National Medical Association for Comprehensive Reform. He recently led a national group of forensic pathologists in the paper entitled: National Association of Medical Examiners Position Paper: Recommendations for the Definition, Investigation, Postmortem Examination, and Reporting of Deaths in Custody.
Dr. Mitchell is the current Vice Speaker to the House of Delegates for the National Medical Association and sits on several additional Boards, including Mentoring in Medicine and the Hip Hop Caucus. He has lectured all over the world including in Africa and Asia, including Egypt, Bangladesh, India, and Belize. Dr. Mitchell currently works with the CDC Foundation supporting the Medicolegal Death Investigation International Community of Practice where he provides technical support to numerous international medical examiners and coroners.
Jennifer L. Hammers, D.O. – Dr. Hammers is a Board Certified Anatomic, Clinical and Forensic Pathologist who performs autopsies and teaches the Forensic Pathology course for the fifth-year students in the Master of Science, Forensic Science and Law Program at Duquesne University. Dr. Hammers has a particular interest in cardiac pathology and actively participates in research related to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). After training in forensic pathology in at the New York City Medical Examiner’s office, she worked for several years in Massachusetts and New York City. Dr. Hammers then accepted a position with Cyril H. Wecht & Pathology Associates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she currently works.
Dr. Jennifer L. Hammers
Dr. Matthias I. Okoye
Dr. Matthias I. Okoye, M.D., J.D. is a physician, lawyer, and medico-legal expert. He was nominated as one of the top 50 minority scientists in the U.S.A. in 2005. He has performed and supervised over 15,000 autopsies.
He is the executive director of the Nebraska Institute of Forensic Sciences, Inc., and Associated Pathologists of Nebraska, P.C. and the former Chief Medical Examiner for Washington, D.C. and a clinical professor of forensic pathology at George Washington University, Georgetown University, and Howard University.
He received dual medicine and surgery degrees (Summa Cum Laude) from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and the British Conjoint board, U.K. in 1974. He was a junior fellow in pathology at the University of Cambridge, U.K., in 1972. He is board certified by the American Board of Pathology in Anatomic Pathology, Clinical Pathology, Forensic Pathology, and Cytopathology.
He undertook residencies and research in anatomic and clinical pathology and neuropathology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas. He obtained an M.S. degree in pharmaceutical science/toxicology at the UMKC-School of Pharmacy. He undertook his residency in forensic pathology at OCME for the State of Maryland.
He earned a J.D. degree from the Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University. He is a member of the Bars of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Federal District Courts, U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a consultant forensic pathologist with the State of Nebraska.