Family demands accountability as Massachusetts authorities investigate the death of a Black 16-year-old
The family of a Black 16-year-old is demanding accountability and transparency after authorities announced an investigation into the teenager’s death last month in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.
Mikayla Miller’s body was found by a jogger in the woods off a walking path during the early morning of April 18, according to a Tuesday news release from the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.
The day before, authorities said, the teen’s mother made a complaint about her daughter being “jumped.” The teen reported that she was punched in the face and showed blood in her lip. The investigation into the physical assault remains open and there are no charges so far.
By Joe Sutton and Rebekah Riess, CNN
Updated 12:01 AM ET, Fri May 7, 2021
Milayla Miller, 16, was found dead April 18. (CNN)The family of a Black 16-year-old is demanding accountability and transparency after authorities announced an investigation into the teenager s death last month in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.
Mikayla Miller s body was found by a jogger in the woods off a walking path during the early morning of April 18, according to a Tuesday news release from the Middlesex County District Attorney s Office.
The day before, authorities said, the teen s mother made a complaint about her daughter being jumped. The teen reported that she was punched in the face and showed blood in her lip. The investigation into the physical assault remains open and there are no charges so far.
HOPKINTON, Mass. – Mikayla Miller and her mother Calvina Strothers were two peas in a pod.
She loved to make her mom tea every night and was often her mom s dinner date, as the two enjoyed going out to eat. They traveled together regularly, with quick trips from their home in Massachusetts to Maine or New Hampshire and had plans to return to Trinidad soon. Mikayla was only 16-years-old. She was my bright and shining star in this crazy world, Strothers said at a rally Thursday for her daughter, less than a month since her death.
On the morning of April 18, Mikayla, a Black teenager, was found dead in a wooded area by a jogger in what the Middlesex County District Attorney s Office initially said was not considered a suspicious death. It remained an “open and active” investigation, the office said at the time.
Residents Demand Police Reform, Point To Racial Disparities In Watertown Arrests
Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin, from the group Watertown Citizes for Peace, Justice and the Environment, is working to open up lines of communication between the Watertown Police Department and city residents.
Marilyn Schairer / GBH News
Watertown Police | May 6, 2021
Watertown residents are demanding that local police be more accountable and transparent after public record requests revealed that Black residents are arrested at a rate five to six times higher than white residents.
Nearly 200 people attended a contentious virtual meeting of the Town Council’s Public Safety Committee late last month, when members of the Watertown Citizens for Black Lives group presented data and proposed several anti-racism initiatives they would like to see implemented within the department.
Massachusetts rape survivors plead for 1980s cases to be reopened Share Updated: 12:01 AM EDT Apr 30, 2021 Karen Anderson & Kevin Rothstein Share Updated: 12:01 AM EDT Apr 30, 2021
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Show Transcript I WOULD LIKE MY CASE TO BE REOPENED. I DON T WANT IT TO BE JUST SITTING ON A SHELF ANYMORE. The Reporter: A REQUEST FOR ACTION FROM TWO RAPE SURVIVORS. PLEASE, REOPEN MY CASE. The Reporter: IT WAS TWO DAYS AFTER CHRISTMAS, 1989. THE WOMEN WERE WORKING AT A HIT OR MISS STORE ON ROUTE 9, WHETHER A MAN WALKED IN, POSING AS A SHOPPER, LOOKING TO BUY SOMETHING FOR HIS WIFE. HE WAS VERY CLEAN, SHAVEN, HE WAS VERY PRESENTABLE,. The Reporter: OF THE NEXT THING THEY KNEW, THE MAN PULLED OUT A GUN. HE SAID, YOU HAVE A 357 MAGNUM POINTED AT YOUR SIDE, DON T MOVE, DON T DO ANYTHING STUPID OR I LL BLOW YOU HAVE AWAY. HE HAD ME CRAWL NAKED ON MY HANDS AND KNEES TO THE BACK OFFICE AND THAT S WHERE THE ASSAULT HAPPENED. The