El Paso County has appointed a forensic pathologist to replace resigning coroner Dr. Leon Kelly to serve out the remainder of his term.
Well-known El Paso County coroner announces he'll be stepping down
A 12-year veteran of the El Paso County Coroner's Office, Dr. Emily Russell-Kinsley is currently the deputy chief medical examiner. She earned a medical degree from Baylor, has medical examiner specialty training and was appointed in 2019 to the Colorado Cold Case Taskforce as a forensic pathology representative. Russell-Kinsley is also a member of the Colorado Coroner's Association Board of Directors.
Until the next general election in 2026, she will lead the busiest coroner's office in the state with a staff of around 30 people providing services to 22 counties.
"I want you and the public to know I take the gravity of this position very seriously, and I promise to uphold the great work the office has done," she said at her appointment hearing on Tuesday.
Russell-Kinsley's appointment comes after Kelly's resignation announcement in September after serving 6 years as coroner and 17 as a county medical examiner. He will leave office on Dec. 31.
Kelly served as the El Paso County coroner through several high-profile events, including mass shootings, the COVID-19 pandemic and the discovery last year of almost 200 improperly stored decaying bodies in Freemont County. He was also a public presence in county suicide prevention efforts and served on the board of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
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"While this work has been both sobering and at times overwhelming, it is also a profound privilege to offer families answers and help our community better understand the circumstances of their losses," he wrote in his resignation letter.
Kelly previously told the Gazette he was resigning to spend more time with family and to focus on teaching and consulting.
The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners approved Russell-Kinsley's appointment after reviewing more than a dozen applications. Commissioner Holly Williams said she was grateful to see Russell-Kinsley's application in the mix, since qualified forensic pathologists are rare in the field.
"I'm really excited," she said. "There're not many forensic pathologists in the state anymore."
Most counties in Colorado do not have a forensic pathologist in the top job. The title refers to a medical doctor with additional training in a variety of forensic science fields. As such, Kelly's expertise was in demand inside and outside El Paso County.
Williams said she felt Russell-Kinsley's equivalent qualifications were what the voters of El Paso County had chosen. Russell-Kinsley is also a registered Republican, the same party affiliation as Kelly, according to board chair Carrie Geitner.
At the meeting, Russell-Kinsey said she would be focusing on hiring and staff retention at the Coroner's Office.