HOPKINTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Mikayla Miller’s mother and community leaders are set to speak out Wednesday after the Office of the State Medical Examiner ruled the Hopkinton teenager died by suicide.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump will join Miller’s mother Calvina Strothers, community leaders, and advocates from the National Black Justice Coalition in a virtual press conference, in which organizers say, “they will outline the concerning details surrounding Mikayla’s death and call for a comprehensive investigation into her potential murder.”
Miller’s body was found along a trail off of West Main Street back on April 18, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan.
Ryan had said before Miller’s death, a fight broke out sometime between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. between her and a group of teenagers at an apartment complex where the girl lived.
Miller’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 noted that phone records appear to show the teens involved in the fight with Miller were not in the woods.
The Office of the State Medical Examiner has since ruled Miller’s death a suicide, adding that her cause of death was “asphyxia by hanging.”
Ryan released a statement in part, saying, “This ruling addresses the manner and means of Mikayla’s death. However, our investigation into the events surrounding Mikayla’s death remains active and ongoing. We will continue to explore every investigative angle necessary as we do that work and intend to issue a complete and thorough report at the conclusion of the investigation.”
A vigil was held for Miller in the Hopkinton Town Common earlier this month, in which her mother and other community members called for a thorough and transparent investigation into the teen’s death.
At the time, the DA’s office said investigators had not found any evidence of this being a hate crime, referring to the fact that Miller was Black and a member of the LGBTQ community.
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