Medical Examiners on Staff

Dr. Russell Vega
Chief Medical Examiner
Dr. Vega served as Associate Medical Examiner in Hillsborough County (Tampa), as well as Chief of Autopsy and Microbiology Services at the James A. Haley VA Hospital in Tampa, prior to his appointment in 2003 by Governor Jeb Bush to be Chief Medical Examiner of Florida’s Twelfth District. He has had gubernatorial appointments to Florida’s Medical Examiner Commission and the Governor’s Violent Crime and Drug Control Council. He is a long standing member of the Florida Association of Medical Examiners and has served as President-Elect (twice) and President (once), as well as working on and chairing numerous committees and regularly presenting at statewide educational conferences. He is an active member of the Florida Emergency Mortuary Response System (FEMORS) and the National Association of Medical Examiners. He holds clinical assistant professorships with both the University of South Florida College of Medicine/USF Health and the Florida State University College of Medicine.

Dr. Wilson Broussard
Deputy Chief Medical Examiner
Dr. Broussard is a member of the Florida Emergency Mortuary Operations Response System (FEMORS) as he responded and assisted with the Pulse Night Club Shooting in Orlando, FL in 2016. He served on the Florida Association of Medical Examiners board of directors and served for many years as the chair of its Nominating Committee. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the National Association of Medical Examiners and maintains memberships with state and national Pathology organizations (FMA, AMA, ASCP, CAP).

Dr. Suzanne Utley
Associate Medical Examiner
Dr. Utley has been a member of the federal Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) since 1993, and serves as the Forensic Pathology Section Leader for Region IV. She served with the Mississippi response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and with the Texas/Louisiana response to Hurricane Ike in 2008. She became a member of Florida Emergency Mortuary Operations Response System (FEMORS) in 2006 after moving back to Florida. She is a member of both the National Association of Medical Examiners and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and serves as the Chairperson of the Ad Hoc Committee on Mass Disaster Management for the National Association of Medical Examiners.
Dr. Leszek Chrostowski
Associate Medical Examiner
David Winterhalter
Director of Operations
Abby Andrus
Chief Investigator
Trelawny Taylor-Ferraro
Office Manager and Records Custodian