Massachusetts medical examiner rules Mikayla Miller died by suicide
Massachusetts’ top medical examiner concluded that Mikayla Miller, a 16-year-old Black girl, died by suicide last month in a Boston surburb.
Miller was found dead hanging from a tree in woods in Hopkinton, Mass., on April 18. Her death sparked outrage in the community, and her mother has called for an independent investigation, saying local authorities rushed the initial inquiry.
Massachusetts’ Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Tuesday that Miller died from asphyxia by hanging and that she died by suicide, local CBS affiliate WBZ reported.
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said the investigation into the circumstances around Miller’s death is ongoing, according to local ABC affiliate WCVB.
The night before Miller was found dead, she was in a “physical altercation” with two other teenagers, the district attorney’s office said. Three more teens were also in the room. Police said they investigated all five and determined none ventured into the woods where Miller’s body was later found.
Calvina Strothers, Miller’s mother, has sharply criticized Hopkinton police and Ryan’s district attorney office.
“Instead of answers, the response from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, State Police and the Hopkinton Police has been the exact opposite: disrespect, slammed doors, misdirection, glaring inconsistencies, extreme confusion, and ultimately, silence,” Strothers wrote May 6 on a GoFundMe page.
Strothers said that officers, while telling her that Mikayla died, “prematurely concluded that Mikayla committed suicide without fully completing an investigation and a report from the Medical Examiner.”
No one has been detained in connection with the reported April 17 assault.
