As we continue to celebrate Black History Month at News 12, we highlight a Black medical examiner who helps bring law and order to reality through his work.  

Dr. Samuel grew up in Barbados, where the population of the entire island is smaller than that of Brooklyn. He says he was able to migrate to the United States, where he attended a residency program that helped him get into a top training institution for forensic pathology.  

“It’s almost a miracle, but I’m very grateful for that opportunity,” said Samuel. “To be able to not work in the field and give back by doing good work is the only thing I can ask for right now.” 

The medical examiner says that examining a body from a crime scene isn’t what it looks like on television.  

“There will be days where we have seen something that we have never seen before,” said Samuel. “With the doctors who are on that day and collectively, we probably have hundreds of years of experience together." 

Samuel says that it’s not only his job to aid in the forensic investigation, but to give families a sense of closure on how their loved one has died.  

“Our role is to help who has died get their justice, if needed,” said Samuel. “Their body and what we see is going to speak for itself and that's really important to try to get that and not focused on perhaps the nature of how that person has died."