Mikayla Miller family is asking for the truth regarding her death. It was on May 19 that the mother of the 16-year-old, Calvina Strothers, joined a group of supporters, demanding absolute transparency in current investigation related to her passing.
When it comes to the death certificate of Miller, it was determined by a state examiner’s office that she died by suicide, adding that her cause of death was “asphyxia by hanging.” Strothers has stated that she was not sure regarding the ruling in that specific speech.
She stated that she just wishes to find the truth and that the conclusion that was deduced the previous day was no different from what the conclusion was when they first entered her house. She added that though there was no difference, she knows the truth and it goes against what is being said.
She stated that the last time she saw her daughter, she was in a physical altercation with a few teenagers at the recreation center close to her apartment. Then, she called authorities claiming that five teens jumped Miller, and later, she explained that she fought against two of them. The accounts of the teens was also provided to the police.
The next morning, Miller’s body was discovered by a jogger as it hung from a tree in the wooded area of her Hopkinton, Massachusetts neighborhood. It was learned by investigators that Miller had taken about 1,300 steps to reach that specific location, and it was added that according to cell phone data, the five teenagers were placed in other areas during that day and the night before. Strothers was told that her 16-year-old died by suicide immediately and thus, she began to question the entire investigation.
For addressing the complaints about Strothers regarding transparency, the Hopkinton police released records pertaining to the death of Miller, which includes the audio of the 911 call, the log of the department regarding her body’s discovery and unedited dash camera recordings.
According to Hopkinton Police Chief Joseph Bennett, he believes that the release of the records was the right course of action considering the volume of records requests that they received and the public attention the case received.
He added that the death of a child is a universal tragedy. The investigation stays active, while the family chose to conduct an independent autopsy hoping that the results would be different and lead her to the truth.
