HOPKINTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says her office is continuing to investigate the death of a teenage girl in Hopkinton.
Ryan responded to calls demanding answers in connection with the death of 16-year-old Mikayla Miller in a late afternoon press conference at her office in Woburn on Tuesday.
“This investigation will not be closed until we have exhausted all avenues,” she said.
The girl’s body was found along a trail off of West Main Street back on April 18. A small memorial now marks the location.
Ryan said that before Mikayla’s death, a fight broke out sometime between 5 and 7 p.m. between her and two other teenagers at an apartment complex where the girl lived.
Mikayla’s mother called police to their home just before 7:30 p.m., reporting that her daughter had been jumped, Ryan added.
“When interviewed by the police, Mikayla reported that during that physical altercation a short time before, she had been pushed and punched in the face,” Ryan continued.
Mikayla’s cellphone then reportedly showed that later that night she walked more than 1,300 steps from her home, which was about the distance from her apartment to the spot where a jogger found her body in the woods the next morning.
Ryan says that phone records appear to show the teens involved in the fight with Mikayla were not in the woods.
Ryan went on to say that investigators do not have any evidence of a hate crime at this point, referring to the fact that Mikayla was black and a member of the LGBTQ community.
She added that her office will perform a thorough and transparent investigation.
“I understand that you certainly would want to know immediately, exactly what happened in your child’s last moments. It is a great disappointment always that we cannot immediately give families those answers,” she said. “I completely understand that and that all a family wants to hear is, ‘Tell me why, tell me how, tell me what those last few minutes were like.’”
Police released a statement regarding the investigation which read in part: “We are aware of the concerns expressed by many in the community over this tragedy. The District Attorney, earlier today, provided information concerning the investigation. Because the investigation remains ongoing and at the District Attorney’s direction, and because many of the persons involved are minors, we are unable to provide any more information than the District Attorney has already provided. The Police Department is committed, however, to communicating additional information as soon as it is appropriate and permissible to do so.”
The DA’s office is waiting for a cause of death for Mikayla from the Medical Examiner’s Office.
A vigil is planned in town for Thursday night.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
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