Three totals in one report
Kern County’s 2025 Child Death Review Team report says 39 of 113 deaths among people younger than 18 were reviewed. Its manner-of-death counts add to 39, and its age summary also adds to 39. But the monthly table printed directly below the age chart does not reconcile with either total.
What’s the Scoop With Broach manually transcribed every populated age-by-month cell. Those cells add to 48. The table’s own printed monthly totals add to 47. Neither equals the report’s stated 39 cases. November alone contains six age-group entries while its printed total says five.
| Breakdown | Recomputed total |
|---|---|
| Manner of death | 39 |
| Age summary | 39 |
| Printed monthly-total row | 47 |
| Age-by-month cells | 48 |
The mismatch changes what the public can learn
The report says every reviewed death was considered likely preventable by the Coroner’s Office. The table error does not disprove that finding. It does prevent readers from determining the monthly distribution of the reviewed cases and from testing whether any seasonal pattern described by the table is real.
A second internal check appears in the narrative: the report says nine deaths occurred among ages 5 through 9, up from five in 2024. The monthly table contains only six entries in that age row.
The broader trend is still measurable
Reviewed cases declined from 47 in 2024 to 39 in 2025—eight fewer, or 17.0%. Total child deaths declined from 128 to 113—15 fewer, or 11.7%. The 39 reviewed cases were 34.5% of all 113 deaths recorded in the report.
Those trends come from the report’s top-line figures, not the incompatible monthly grid. Several rate charts label 2025 data provisional, which is another reason not to treat the table as a finalized case calendar.
Method and limits
This analysis checked the monthly grid against the report’s printed monthly totals, age totals, manner totals and narrative. It did not review confidential Coroner files, so it cannot identify which cells are wrong. A formatting or editing error is a plausible explanation; the discrepancy does not establish that 47 or 48 children died.
The report is scheduled for presentation October 27 and could be corrected before or during the meeting. A corrected table should preserve family privacy while supplying totals that reproduce the report’s stated case count.
Sources and further reading
Kern County Child Death Review Team 2025 Report ↗