Trooper In Hopkinton Death Investigation Had Prior Complaint

HOPKINTON, MA — A Norwood mother in 2020 filed a complaint about a state police investigator assigned to the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office — the same trooper who a Hopkinton mother has said made an inappropriate comment about her daughter, who was found dead in a wooded area in April after an apparent suicide.

State police Sgt. Sean O'Brien, a member of the Middlesex State Police Detective Unit (SPDU), was one of the first troopers on the scene when Mikayla Miller was found dead on April 18. Miller's mother, Calvina Strothers, has said O'Brien told her the teen's "sexuality would be exposed" if Strothers alerted the media about the death.

The detail about Strothers' interaction with O'Brien came in May when the Miller case was the focus of statewide attention. The death has been ruled a suicide by a state medical examiner, but Miller's family and other local activists believe the teen died under suspicious circumstances. She was involved in a fight with a group of other teenagers — including one girl who was Miller's estranged girlfriend — the night before she was found dead. Middlesex DA Marian Ryan has said a crime did occur, and the investigation was still open as of Thursday.

Asked about the O'Brien comment, a Ryan spokesperson said this week the DA's office is still investigating "what that conversation was" between O'Brien and Strothers. That's the same answer Ryan gave during a GBH interview in early May where Violence in Boston founder Monica Cannon-Grant raised O'Brien's comment.

"What's your response to what [Cannon-Grant] and [Strothers] has said about Sgt. O'Brien?" GBH Greater Boston host Jim Braude asked Ryan.

"I have heard that and seen that obviously," Ryan said. "That is something we are looking into as to what that conversation was."

In early May, Patch filed a public records request asking state police for any complaints filed against O'Brien in his time as an investigator with the Middlesex DA's office. The request returned one complaint filed by a Black woman in September 2020 describing a "traumatic" experience.

According to the complaint, O'Brien and four other plainclothes officers went to the woman's home in Norwood — her identity was redacted in the record — and asked to come inside claiming they were there about the missing persons report she filed about her son.

The woman says the officers searched her son's room, but didn't identify themselves or show badges, she said. At one point during the visit, O'Brien told the woman they were actually there to investigate her son because "someone was hurt and [her] child was involved." The woman then began recording the troopers with her cell phone.

"At that point [O'Brien] became agitated ... I layed [sic] the phone down on my bed still recording while I continued to speak with them. Sergant [sic] became even more agitated and removed my phone from my bed saying that he will be taking it to go through it for evidence," the complaint said.

O'Brien asked for consent to search the woman's phone, and she declined. The troopers seized the phone anyway — and threatened to seize her car — leading to a physical confrontation, according the complaint.

In general, police can neither search nor seize an item like a cell phone without either consent or a warrant. A federal appeals court has also said that Massachusetts residents can record police in secret.

"All three officers lunged at me. One began to yell, telling me not to touch him. One began to yell telling me not to touch him," the woman wrote in the complaint.

The complaint never resulted in any discipline, according to the document, because O'Brien followed up with the mother.

"Lt. Dwyer spoke with the complainant. I confirmed with her that she understood why the Troopers had gone to her house and seized her cell phone," a state police narrative of the follow-up said. "She stated that she does and she also understands how serious it is. She said that speaks with Sgt. O'Brien often and understands that what they did was necessary. She advises that she will continue to speak with Sgt. O'Brien and does not wish to pursue this complaint."

The district attorney's office said this week the incident referenced in the complaint was likely the Sept. 22 shooting of a 21-year-old woman in Wakefield. Shemar Nelms, 18, of Norwood, was arrested and charged in connection to that incident.

Neither Strothers nor Cannon-Grant, who helped publicize the case, could be reached for comment about the 2020 complaint.

Each district attorney's office in the state has a special unit of state police investigators. The detectives are called to investigate all manner of crimes, from police shootings to drug investigations, according to the agency.

"These members serve as the investigators for their respective District Attorney’s offices and work very closely with our local and federal partners," the State Police Association of Massachusetts magazine The Constabulary describes. "Cases in their purview range from homicides, drug trafficking, sexual assaults, money laundering, cyber-crimes, Internet Crimes against Children (ICAC), embezzlement, threats and harassment of public officials and virtually anything our partnering agencies require or ask of them."

O'Brien has been a state trooper for over 18 years, the last five spent with the Middlesex DA's special investigations unit, according to state police. Patch requested all complaints filed against O'Brien since he joined the DA's unit, indicating the 2020 complaint is the one that has been formally filed in that time.

Although outcry over Miller's death has died down recently, a group of lawmakers — including U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley — sent a letter to Ryan's office Wednesday asking for an independent investigation. The letter says that Miller's death may have been the result of bullying, and could be a hate crime.

“While we understand that the medical examiner’s office has determined that the cause of her death was suicide, reports about those circumstances have made closure hard to find for Mikayla’s family and the community," the Boston Globe reported.