Next Mikayla Miller Rally Aims To Pressure Middlesex DA

HOPKINTON, MA — A group focused on bringing attention to the death of Hopkinton 16-year-old Mikayla Miller is planning a new rally, this time focused on pressuring Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan.

Miller was found dead by a tree on April 18. Police told her mother it appeared the girl's death was a suicide; others have suggested Miller was lynched.

The group Violence in Boston drew hundreds to a May 6 rally in downtown Hopkinton, including elected officials like state Sen. President Karen Spilka and Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer.

The group's next rally, scheduled for May 21, will take place outside Ryan's satellite office in Lowell. Violence in Boston organizer Monica Cannon-Grant has asked for Ryan to resign, and for federal officials to take over the investigation into her death.

"DA Marian Ryan needs to go! We are [demanding] that she step down from her position because she has proven that she is incompetent," the group's Facebook event page says.

Ryan has sidestepped calls to either resign or hand the investigation over to another entity. She has said the investigation into Miller's death is ongoing and may hinge on the results of an autopsy — a procedure that may take up to three months to complete.

"We are committed to a thorough and transparent investigation and have committed to making all records public at its conclusion," a Middlesex DA spokesperson said Thursday when asked about an independent investigation.

Miller died sometime between the night of April 17 and the morning of April 18. She was found in a wooded area in Hopkinton near her apartment complex along West Main Street. Ryan's office has not said how the girl died. Miller's mother, Calvina Strothers, 41, has insinuated her daughter may have been the victim of violence. Strothers is also facing an assault charge from a 2020 incident where she was accused of hitting one of her teenage children.

There are also lingering questions about an altercation that happened the night Miller was last seen alive. Four teenagers were involved, and Miller was injured during the fight. Ryan has said all four teens involved in the fight were accounted for the night Miller died.

Related: What We Know About The Mikayla Miller Case So Far