HOPKINTON, Mass. — According to the evidence released so far, the Middlesex County District Attorney has suggested Mikayla Miller might’ve taken her own life. But Mikayla’s family is still burning with questions, and they say they don’t trust what the police and DA are saying.
All week long as Boston 25 reached out to her family, they said they would speak at a rally Thursday, and Mikayla’s mother held to that.
“We loved going to New Hampshire, I’m never going to be able to do that with her again,” said Mikayla’s mom, Calvina Strothers, trying to hold it together as she spoke in front of hundreds.
“They were given the names of all five kids involved. Almost a week later when I requested a copy of the police report, it was nothing on file or in the Hopkinton police log. There was also no log of the actual finding of Mikayla’s body.”
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The DA said someone found the 16-year-old dead near her Hopkinton home on April 18 the day after getting into a physical altercation. The family and the town are now wondering if race played a factor in that altercation and her death.
“I spent 28 years in jail fighting a false accusation, so cover-ups are possible,” said Sean Ellis, who attended the rally.
Part of the reason the DA suggested Mikayla may have taken her own life was because of a cellphone that tracked her 1,316 steps into the woods where her body was found. Boston 25′s Wale Aliyu asked Strothers about that phone.
“In regard to the steps, that was something that was inaccurate,” Strothers said. “The phone that my daughter had on her person at that time was not an active cellular phone. It didn’t have cellular data and the only way that it could work is if it was connected to Wi-Fi. Once leaving the community, she no longer has Wi-Fi. Therefore, her steps cannot be counted, which I confirmed with Apple. "
Mikayla’s mom said the investigators googled the number of steps taken.
DA Marian Ryan told Boston 25 News in a statement Thursday: “Our victim witness advocate was in touch on 4/19. The steps came from the health app.”
Strothers also said police harassed and lied to her family and friends.
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“I want the forensics on the belt that they found her hanging on,” she said.
The cause of Mikayla’s death has not been determined.
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