Familiar Face Returns to Coroner's Office on Interim Basis

LOS ANGELES, CA - Former Los Angeles County coroner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran will return to the post on an interim basis, with the Board of Supervisors choosing him Tuesday as a temporary replacement for the resigning Dr. Mark Fajardo.

Fajardo announced his departure last week, saying understaffing of the agency has led to backlogs at the office, leaving 180 bodies piled up at the facility and toxicology tests taking months to complete.

Fajardo, who is expected to step down in mid-April, will be returning to the coroner's job in Riverside County, the post he held before leaving for Los Angeles County in 2013.

The Board of Supervisors discussed the vacancy at the coroner's office behind closed doors Tuesday, then announced the interim hiring of Sathyavagiswaran, who served as the county coroner from 1993-2013, when he retired.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich described Sathyavagiswaran as "a skilled clinician, a qualified medical examiner -- fully prepared to take the helm."

"He has the full support of the board as (he) takes on this responsibility," Antonovich said.

--City News Service, photo courtesy of Los Angeles County News Center