Cook County 2022 Homicides Drop, Overdoses Soar, Suicides Steady: ME

CHICAGO — Homicides dropped while opioid overdose deaths continued to break records, according to preliminary statistics released by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office for cases it handled in 2022.

The medical examiner’s office handled a total of 927 homicides in 2022, 740 in the City of Chicago. Overall homicides fell by more than 15 percent in Cook County from their peak in 2021. The other Cook County municipalities with the highest number of homicides included Harvey with 15, Dolton with 11, Riverdale with nine and Maywood with eight. African Americans were the victims of 76 percent of homicides, and Latinos accounted for more than 18 percent of homicide deaths. Males accounted for 86 percent of homicide deaths.

While overall homicides declined, the number of children killed went up by almost 13 percent, with 97 of the homicide victims under the age of 18; 21 were under the age of 10.

Hundreds of toxicology tests are pending, but Cook County is on pace to beat 2021’s record for opioid overdose deaths, with 1,599 confirmed opioid overdoses for 2022. The medical examiner anticipates that approximately 400 to 500 of its pending cases will be due to opioid toxicity, putting the final number for 2022 over 2,000.

Of the opioid toxicity cases confirmed thus far, approximately 78 percent are male. African Americans make up 56 percent of the deaths, Latinos account for just under 15 percent and whites constitute over 28 percent. The age group most impacted is 50- to 59-year-olds, accounting for 28 percent of the overdose deaths. The year’s youngest opioid overdose death in Cook County was a 12-year-old boy from Chicago.

Overall suicide rates in Cook County have remained consistent. Males continue to make up more than three out of four suicide deaths.

The medical examiner’s caseload continued to significantly surpass pre-COVID-19 levels in 2022, with 10,443 cases last year. This is a drop from a peak caseload of 16,407 in 2020, and 12,612 cases in 2021. Nearly 43 percent of all COVID-19 cases in 2022 were Black and just over 14 percent Latino. Prior to the pandemic, the medical examiner’s office averaged approximately 6,200 deaths in an average year.

To access additional data from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, please visit the case archive.