What happened to Pitt County NC medical examiner, Dr. Karen Kelly? Where did she go? Did she retire? Resign? Was she pushed out of her position at East Carolina University’s (ECU) Brody School of Medicine? Let’s discuss.
If you are new to my blog, I invite you to check out my earlier posts to see how all of this started.
If you are a veteran to my site, then you may remember that ECU Health Medical Center used Dr. Kelly to help them cover up my daughter’s death.
LET’S GO BACK BRIEFLY
My daughter, Keisha Marie White, died at ECU Health in 2014. Actually, she was killed by her nurse, Linda Brixon, after Brixon ignored practically every doctor’s order given to her, refused to provide prescribed oxygen, and rather than treat my daughter as she was dying, Brixon chose to sedate her and strap her to the bed in restraints.
State law requires an autopsy when a death happens under suspicious circumstances—like when a patient dies suddenly in restraints. But ECU Health doesn’t give a damn about the law, obviously. Why should they? They’re above it. So, they controlled the narrative while leaving room to blame Keisha for her own death. Yes! Uh-huh. I’m not lying.
Despite my best efforts to have a proper criminal investigation conducted, ECU Health blocked me at every turn. Seems almost impossible, right? Well, it is very possible when law enforcement and district attorneys jump on board to serve the hospital’s interests rather than the public’s. Neither of these authorities cared to do their jobs in this case, which makes it painfully obvious that oaths taken to protect the public meant nothing to them. Their loyalty was to ECU Health.
MOVING FORWARD
My fight for justice took an odd turn in 2022 when the current DA, Faris Dixon, and I got into an argument. Prior to this argument, I discovered that some of the evidence he should have reviewed in 2019 was actually missing. He obtained another copy of the missing records and said if he saw anything in them to change his mind, he would forward the evidence to the medical examiner.
Even with more evidence to consider, however, Dixon maintained that no crime had been committed in Keisha White’s death – a lie that had been echoed by one or another since 2014. This is when our conversation escalated, and he blurted out that he could not file charges because the medical examiner’s report did not support prosecution. Um, what report? And did he only assert this to win the argument?
I followed up with the ME office manager who revealed that they had no information on Keisha in their system. Not only that, they had no data suggesting that such a report even existed.
ENTER DR. KELLY
After Dixon learned that his lie was out there, he decided to send the evidence to Dr. Kelly in August 2022. But here is the kicker: I found out in April 2023 that Dr. Kelly was forbidden from working on Keisha’s case without permission to do so from ECU Health’s risk management and legal department. What?
And what’s worse, Dr. Kelly followed along. Can you believe that? She obeyed orders from a hospital who isn’t even her boss. But I guess they were that day, which is CRAZY! You know? I mean, has she followed such directions before? Does Dr. Kelly have a history of not working on cases that could harm ECU Health’s reputation?
Seriously, if she’s the type of medical examiner who can be told what to do, can she also be told what to say?
Speculation gets worse, though. The day Dixon and I got into that argument, I asked him if I could hire an independent medical examiner for his consideration. He said he could not use an IME. His reasoning was that the jury might wonder why he is not using the same ME he typically uses.
So, let me get this straight… He cannot use an IME; only Dr. Kelly… whom he typically uses. Sniff, sniff, sniff. You smell that?
Has Dr. Kelly ever been told what to say at trial?
Look… I am not alleging a thing here. Faris Dixon said some words. ECU Health issued a directive. Dr. Kelly proved she can be manipulated.
SO, BACK TO MY ORIGINAL QUESTION
What happened to Dr. Karen Kelly?
- Her bio was on the BSOM’s website. Now it’s gone.
- Dr. Kelly was also an associate professor at BSOM. Her picture and name? Wiped clean. There’s literally a blank space where her info used to be.
- There is a Google search that shows, “Permanently Closed.” However, the Pitt County Medical Examiner’s Office is still intact at the BSOM (located at 600 Moye Blvd. in Greenville, NC).
- And ECU Health? Any links connecting Kelly to their facility returns more 404 error pages.
Dr. Kelly has been scrubbed from existence on every platform tied to BSOM, ECU, and ECU Health.
Besides, if Dr. Kelly had left her position on good terms, it seems that the Chief ME would have appointed a replacement by now. As braggy as ECU Health is, it also seems that a newly appointed ME would have been announced on their platforms, along with those of BSOM and ECU. They are silent.
MY FINAL QUESTION…
Was Dr. Kelly pushed out on her keister? Given the way she’s been alienated, I’ll go with door #2.
Meanwhile, news outlets have also remained silent. But doesn’t the public deserve to know when there has been a change in this position? What if someone has questions? Who is now in charge at the ME’s office? BSOM and the Chief ME need to make this make sense.
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