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)
Mikayla Miller, the Hopkinton 16-year-old whose death last month prompted cries of a coverup and calls for an independent investigation, died by suicide, the state medical examiner ruled.
That s according to Miller s death certificate, filed Tuesday. The cause of death was listed as asphyxia by hanging.
Miller s body was found a month ago in a wooded area not far from her house. The night before, Miller was involved in a physical confrontation with several other teenagers at her apartment complex, authorities said. None of those teenagers have been charged or implicated in Miller s death.
Violence in Boston says independent autopsy results will be released
Strothers could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. Monica Cannon-Grant, of Violence in Boston, also could not be immediately reached.
However, on Tuesday, in an online talk show called “Java With Jimmy,” Cannon-Grant said an independent autopsy has been completed and she plans to release its results on Thursday.
Cannon-Grant also claimed Ryan’s office leaked information to a news source about criminal charges filed last year against Strothers for allegedly striking Miller. Cannon-Grant said the charges are expected to be dropped in July.
Ryan, in a statement on Tuesday, said her office has spoken to the attorney of Miller’s family about the ruling, but did not say what that conversation entailed.
MetroWest Daily News
The mother of a Hopkinton teenager found dead last month has started a GoFundMe to raise money for an independent investigation into her daughter’s death.
Calvina Strothers, mother of 16-year-old Mikayla Miller, also hopes to use the money to start a scholarship in her daughter’s name.
The fundraiser, created on Thursday, had raised more than half $22,000 of the $40,000 Strothers seeks, as of 1 p.m. Friday. Nearly 500 people had donated.
“I received a knock at my door on Sunday, April 18th that would change my life forever. The officers stated that Mikayla had left the house the night before and prematurely concluded that Mikayla committed suicide without fully completing an investigation and a report from the Medical Examiner,” Strothers wrote. “My heart was broken, my stomach dropped and I had so many questions that were not answered by the police, including releasing information as simple as the police report that I filed on April 17th,
“I was friends with her,” she said. “She was amazing. She was so bright. So beautiful.”
McMullen was speaking of Mikayla Miller, a 16-year-old Hopkinton girl who was found dead off West Main Street on the morning of April 18. Family members and advocates feel authorities are not doing enough enough to investigate how Miller died.
Hundreds of people flooded the Hopkinton Town Common late Wednesday afternoon, standing largely silent as they listened to a group of speakers inside the common’s gazebo. Many held signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and “Justice for Mikayla.
The rally brought supporters locally, regionally and even from out of state. Among the 29 people who spoke to the Daily News, 20 said they lived in Hopkinton or were recent graduates of Hopkinton High. But the group also included one person each from Worcester, Boston, Rhode Island and Connecticut.