Updated on May 7, 2021 at 11:55 am
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Hundreds of mourners gathered this week in Hopkinton, Massachusetts to honor Mikayla Miller, the 16-year-old aspiring journalist whose death has prompted calls for police transparency and justice.
The Hopkinton town common was packed Thursday with people who repeatedly chanted Mikayla s name and who were asked to reach out to District Attorney Marian Ryan s office to demand an independent investigation over what Mikayla s mother, Calvina Strothers, and other advocates say were delays in the probe and pushback against the family s search for answers. Download our mobile app for iOS or Android to get alerts for local breaking news and weather.
Hereâs what we know â and do not know â about the death of Mikayla Miller
By Zoe Greenberg Globe Staff,Updated May 7, 2021, 1:56 p.m.
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People gathered around lit candles and flowers following a vigil for Mikayla Miller in Hopkinton on Thursday evening.Erin Clark/Globe Staff
Mikayla Miller, a sophomore at Hopkinton High who loved basketball and dreamed of becoming a journalist, was found dead in the woods near her home in Hopkinton on April 18. Police told family members that Miller died by suicide. In the weeks since, her death has fueled outrage and skepticism over authoritiesâ response and has been held up by some as an example of racial injustice. Miller was Black, and her family says they have felt ignored by the police and District Attorney Marian Ryanâs office.
Flowers rest in the woods in Hopkinton on May 4, 2021, nearby where Mikayla Miller was found dead on April 18. (Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Hundreds of people attended a vigil in Hopkinton on Thursday afternoon for a 16-year-old girl found dead in a wooded area behind her home.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said earlier this week that her office is investigating what happened to Mikayla Miller and the medical examiner has yet to issue a cause of death.
But the girl s mother and activists said police initially dismissed the death as a suicide and were slow to investigate whether she was killed.
Crowds are expected to gather in the heart of Hopkinton Thursday afternoon in memory of 16-year-old Mikayla Miller.
But while Thursday’s gathering, organized by Violence In Boston, seeks to honor Mikayla’s life, attendees will also be pushing for more information from authorities about Mikayla’s final moments and what led to her death.
What Mikayla’s mother, authorities, and activists say
Calvina Strothers, Mikayla’s mother, told
The Boston Globe authorities initially informed her that her daughter’s death was a suicide. She also has alleged Hopkinton police have been hostile toward her and have withheld information from her.