By John Q. Hosedrinker 
In the tragic case of baby Onyxx Cooley, who died unexpectedly at 10 weeks old, the elected coroner of Bonneville County, Idaho, failed to conduct a thorough investigation, despite national guidelines recommending a full autopsy, scene investigation, and interviews with caregivers. The coroner, Rick Taylor, opted for a “paperwork autopsy,” choosing to accept the ER doctor’s initial diagnosis of SIDS without further investigation, citing Idaho’s lack of legal requirements for following national standards. This lack of thoroughness leaves the cause of Onyxx’s death unanswered and highlights the systemic issues within Idaho’s coroner system, where the state has the nation’s lowest autopsy rate for unexplained child deaths.
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The case of baby Onyxx, who died in Idaho without a thorough investigation, highlights a disturbing reality: in Idaho, state law allows parents to refuse medical care for their children, even to the point of death, and coroners are not required to follow national standards for death investigations. This means that a child who dies unexpectedly or outside of a doctor’s care in Idaho is less likely to be autopsied than anywhere else in the United States.
The parents of baby Onyxx wanted answers about their baby’s death, but the elected coroner, Rick Taylor, simply decided the death was an unsolvable mystery without even consulting them. This blatant disregard for the parents’ grief and the lack of a proper investigation is a stark example of how Idaho’s laws can fail to protect vulnerable children.
The issue goes beyond the lack of mandatory autopsy requirements. The fact that coroners in Idaho are elected positions, with no requirement for medical experience or training, further undermines the integrity of death investigations. This allows unqualified individuals to hold positions of authority in death investigations, potentially leading to biased or incomplete investigations, as seen in Onyxx’s case.
The lack of oversight and the absence of required expertise in Idaho’s coroner system create a dangerous environment for children. While the state’s stance on religious exemption for medical care is controversial, the absence of proper investigations when children die, regardless of the reason, raises serious ethical and legal concerns.
This situation highlights the danger of relying on elected officials without proper qualifications to handle matters of life and death. The lack of medical expertise in coroner positions, coupled with the state’s lax laws regarding medical care for children, creates a system that fails to protect the most vulnerable members of society.
The case of baby Onyxx is not an isolated incident. Similar situations have been reported across the country, where elected coroners, lacking the necessary qualifications, have conducted inadequate investigations. These situations raise serious concerns about the quality of death investigations and the potential for justice to be denied in cases where children die unexpectedly.
While some argue that the state’s laws reflect the personal beliefs and choices of its citizens, the consequences of these laws are undeniable. The lack of a proper investigation in cases like Onyxx’s denies the grieving parents answers and allows potential perpetrators to evade accountability. This creates a system where children are at risk of dying without the proper investigations needed to understand the cause of death and prevent future tragedies.
The lack of required training for coroners and the lax laws regarding medical care for children in Idaho serve as a stark reminder of the importance of holding elected officials accountable and demanding greater transparency in the investigation of child deaths. The right of parents to make medical decisions for their children should not come at the expense of basic investigations into the causes of death, especially when children are involved.