Mikayla Miller Autopsy May Take Months

HOPKINTON, MA — Investigators could have to wait up to three months to get the autopsy results that would explain how a 16-year-old Hopkinton girl died last month.

Advocates for the family of Mikayla Miller want the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office removed from the investigation, saying DA Marian Ryan and state police have taken too long to determine the cause of her death and have mishandled the case.

The bulk of autopsies take up to 90 days, according to the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner — which could mean investigators and the girl's family may have to wait until summer for the cause of death.

Police said Miller's body was found in a wooded area April 18 about 1,300 steps from her apartment building, based on her cell phone records. The night before, she got into a fight with two other teens at the apartment complex.

What happened?

On April 18, a jogger found the girl's body in a wooded area off West Main Street, according to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office.

The day before, the 16-year-old met with five teens between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. in a common room at the Windsor at Hopkinton apartment complex, according to Ryan. Miller got into a fight with two of them — a boy and a girl — and came away with a bloody lip, Ryan said.

Miller's mother called the police, according to the DA. And by 7:30 p.m., police were at the apartment complex taking a report. About 90 minutes later, Miller left her apartment and walked into the woods. Ryan said data from Miller's phone showed she only walked to the spot where she was found dead.

No autopsy raises questions

Many aspects of the case are troubling for Miller's family and advocates, chief among them that an autopsy has not yet been completed.

The family and advocates are also wary that police initially told Miller's mother that the teen died by suicide, and are concerned Miller, who was Black and gay, may have been targeted because of her race. They say if she wasn't murdered, she may have been driven to self-harm because of bullying.

Violence in Boston founder Monica Cannon-Grant, who went on GBH to advocate on behalf of the family Tuesday, decried what she called the DA's "lack of transparency and accountability."

But Ryan stressed the investigation is ongoing.

"There have been no conclusions reached in this case," she said Tuesday night on GBH. "The most important question is what was the cause and the manner of Mikayla's death. That is a ruling made by the medical examiner. We haven't received that. We are awaiting that."

Rep. Jake Auchincloss, who represents the 4th Congressional District, which includes Hopkinton, weighed in, urging a quick and transparent investigation.

The death of Mikayla Miller is a tragedy, and I extend my deepest condolences to her family. I have spoken with District Attorney Ryan, and she has emphasized her intent to ascertain the facts and pursue justice in a transparent and expeditious manner. (1/2)
— Rep. Jake Auchincloss (@RepAuchincloss) May 5, 2021

The Office of The Chief Medical Examiner

The Office of The Chief Medical Examiner employs 120 people, including 18 full-time medical examiners. Last year, 17,584 deaths were reported to the state office. Of those, it investigated 7,515, according to the office.

The office is tasked with determining the cause and manner of death for deaths that happen in across the commonwealth "under violent, suspicious, or unexplained circumstances" and release death certificates and autopsy reports in a "timely fashion," defined as less than 90 days.

In 2017, there was a backlog of 1,612 cases in which an autopsy or examination had been performed but the autopsy report or death certificate was not yet complete in a timely fashion. The new leadership was tasked with improving turnaround time and completed more than 70 percent of those cases as of March.