Mikayla Miller death officially ruled suicide in Massachusetts after family criticized the idea

A Massachusetts medical examiner has ruled the controversial death of 16-year-old Mikayla Miller a suicide a month after she was found dead in the woods near her home following a fight with classmates and a romantic partner.

Miller left her home between 9 and 10 p.m. on April 17, hours after the physical altercation with a mixed-race group of teens – and was discovered hanged from a tree the next morning. Miller was Black and identified as LGBTQ, and her mother, Calvina Strothers, initially rejected an unofficial police assumption that Miller’s death had been a suicide. She said officers told her about that conclusion on April 18 and accused them of reaching it prematurely. The family and activists called for increased transparency and a more thorough investigation from the Hopkinton Police.