Two hundred and fifty homeless people died in Sacramento in 2022, according to new coroner data — more than ever before.
The list for 2023, which is still being finalized, is currently at 227, and is expected to surpass 250. The number has been climbing steadily since 2020, when there were 137 deaths. In 2013, there were a fraction of the deaths, 60, according to an annual report from the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness.
Some of the names were compiled by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office, and some were compiled independently by The Sacramento Bee.
Here are some key findings from the 2023 list:
Causes
▪ One person died of frostbite.
▪ Two people were killed when trees fell on their tents during a severe January storm.
▪ Three people were killed in homicides.
▪ Four people died in drownings.
▪ Eight people died by suicide.
▪ Fourteen people died from being hit by a vehicle or train.
▪ Twenty-two people died from heart issues, such as cardiac arrests.
▪ One hundred people died of causes related to drugs, including 47 that involved fentanyl.
Although the coroner’s office has not identified any 2023 homeless deaths from hypothermia or heat stroke, they likely will. It often takes several months for the office to determine the cause. In 2021, there were seven homeless deaths in which hypothermia was a cause. In 2022, there were at least three homeless deaths in which hypothermia was a cause, and one in which heat stroke was a cause.
Race/demographics
▪ Forty-four of the people who died, or 19%, were Black. That’s an disproportionate number compared to the overall Black population in Sacramento County of 13%.
▪ Twenty-three were Latino.
▪ Six were Asian.
▪ Fourteen were multiracial.
▪ Two hundred thirty-three were white.
▪ The youngest person to die was Sophia Garst, a 4-day old infant who died at the hospital. The second youngest was 19-year-old Antonio Torres Prieto, who drowned.
▪ The oldest person to die was Asuquo Nyong, 75, who died at the hospital.
▪ One hundred and seventy-eight of the people who died, or 78%, were male.
▪ Twenty of the people who died were under the age of 30.
Location
▪ Eighty-eight people, or 39%, died outdoors. Many died at their campsites, in roadways or in the river.
▪ One person, Keith Still, died while he was incarcerated at the jail
▪ Seven people died in vehicles.
▪ Fourteen people died in hotel rooms, including those that the city uses as homeless shelters.
▪ Ten died in residences that were not their own.
▪ Forty-nine people made it to the hospital before dying.
▪ At least 61 of the deaths, or 30%, occurred in the winter months of December, January or February.
▪ Eighty-one of the deaths, 35%, occurred during the summer months of June, July, August or September.
___
© 2024 The Sacramento Bee
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
