Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
New chief deputy coroner appointed
WEST CHESTER » Sophia Garcia-Jackson has been appointed Chester County Chief Deputy Coroner.
“I am thrilled that Sophia will be our chief deputy coroner,” said Coroner Dr. Christina VandePol. “After reviewing applications from around the country, it was clear that the right person was our own first deputy coroner, Sophia Garcia-Jackson. Sophia
is recognized as an expert medicolegal death investigator not only by our staff, but by our colleagues in local law enforcement. It’s important to have a highly qualified Chief Deputy Coroner because by law that person steps in if anything happens to the coroner.”
Garcia-Jackson has been the first deputy coroner for the past year and came to Chester County after almost six years as a death investigator with the New Jersey Medical Examiner’s Office.
Her responsibilities as first deputy coroner have included establishing an investigator training program, supervising and strengthening the transporter function, updating the Coroner’s Office Mass Fatality plan, and expanding the department’s public outreach program. In addition to a Master’s degree in
Forensic Medicine, GarciaJackson has been a diplomat of the American Board of Medicolegal Investigators since 2017.
Originally from California, Garcia-Jackson has an undergraduate degree in anthropology from California State University, Chico, where she also earned a certificate in forensic identification while working at the University’s Human Identification Lab. She then completed a master’s degree in forensic medicine at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, including an internship at the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office.
Garcia-Jackson’s ongoing training includes a Forensic Science Training Program with the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Most recently, as required by Pennsylvania law, she successfully completed Pennsylvania’s Basic Coroner Education Course.
Garcia-Jackson resides in West Whiteland Township with her husband, Blake, and their dog Chico, a Chihuahua mix. She met her husband while both were on a study abroad program in Ghana, West Africa. She loves cooking and the Coroner’s Office is the frequent beneficiary of her culinary talent.
The Chester County Coroner’s Office is an independent agency that investigates the facts and circumstances concerning jurisdictional deaths which have occurred within Chester County. The office determines the cause and manner of death, the identity of the decedent, and provides notification to the legal next of kin.