Mikayla Miller Vigil Draws Hundreds To Hopkinton

HOPKINTON, MA — More than 1,000 people descended on the Hopkinton Town Common Thursday afternoon to honor the life of a Black girl whose body was recently found in the woods nearby, and to demand authorities properly investigate.

"Mikayla was only 16 years old. She was my bright and shining star in this crazy world," said Mikayla Miller's mother, Calvina Strothers, addressing a crowd that stretched across half the public square.

Strothers, who broke down in tears, spoke of her bond with her daughter, who she said loved traveling and the ocean and would bring her tea every night.

Strothers also called for more information from investigators. She said on the morning police found her daughter's body, before there was time to launch an investigation, they told her the girl's death was a suicide.

• Read more: Mikayla Miller's Autopsy Could Take Months

Community advocates, including former Boston city councilor Tito Jackson and Monica Cannon-Grant, founder of the group Violence In Boston, said that if the racial dynamics were reversed, the entire case would have been handled differently. And if the case had been handled differently, there would be no need to call on the FBI to take over the investigation, they said.

"If they would not have immediately made a conclusion regarding my child's death and done a proper investigation, or did any investigation at all, we wouldn't be here," Strothers said. "I'm looking for justice for my daughter."

The night before Miller's death

Police said Miller got into a fight with a group of teenagers at her apartment complex April 17. Her mother said some of them were 18 and most were white. When her daughter came home that evening and told her mother what happened, Strothers reported to the police that her daughter was "jumped." Officers noted the girl had a bloody lip from the fight. Later that night, Miller left the apartment.

The next morning, a jogger running the trails in the Berry Acres woods — about a quarter-mile from the girl's apartment complex, according to a trail map — found her body, police said.

Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said cell phone data indicated Miller traveled straight from the apartment to the woods, some 1,300 steps away. But Strothers said Thursday that would be impossible to tell, given her cell phone data was off, and she wouldn't have Wi-Fi away from the building.

Then, when Strothers asked for a copy of the police report taken the night before her daughter was found dead, she said police would not give it to her. She said she couldn't find a mention of it in the public police logs.

Strothers said when a neighbor helped post "We want the truth" signs around town, they were harassed by police. Police also recommended she not tell her daughter's story to the media, she said, for fear it would come out that she was LGBTQ.

It did not sit well with her.

Strothers and advocates accuse the Middlesex District Attorney's Office and police of taking too long to determine the cause of death and mishandling the case.

"I don't want to be a vigilante," Strothers said. "I don’t want to have to spend all day on the phone getting evidence and passing it along in order for justice to be served. What I want is for the criminal justice system to work."

Speculation and fear

The lack of information has fueled speculation and fear surrounding the circumstances of Miller's death and the investigation.

Some have suggested Miller's death was racially motivated, and that she may have been the victim of a lynching. Ryan stressed the investigation is still ongoing, and said she couldn't provide many details about how Miller died. Others say Miller was driven to take her own life because of bullying.

"Either way, both are horrible," said Mitchell Kiliulis of Ashland, who came out to the vigil Thursday to show support for Miller's mother.

Vincent Smithson of Milford used to live in Hopkinton. He said he was struck by reports about the way Miller was found in the woods — Jackson said Miller was found "up against a tree with a belt around her neck," though the DA's office would not confirm that. And then, Smithson said, he was shocked at how Ryan was treating the case.

"A horrible crime was committed, and she didn't really want to say it was even a crime. I couldn't believe it," he said.

At the end of the vigil, Cannon-Grant implored the crowd to call Ryan and ask her to recuse herself from the case and hand it over to the FBI.

Go in peace

Following the vigil, a small crowd gathered in the street, blocking the road and chanting, "If we don't get it, shut it down."

Cannon-Grant came over and asked them to move out of the street, saying as the family was still grieving, it was not the time to protest in the street.

Residents expressed concern prior to the vigil that it might turn violent.

In a statement read aloud by Hopkinton Select Board Chair Brendan Tedstone during an emergency meeting Tuesday night, board members called Miller’s death a tragedy, noted the importance of community dialogue and asked for peace.

"Both at the vigil and demonstration or otherwise, we encourage everybody to show their support for Mikayla’s family," Tedstone said. "We ask only that everybody is careful to choose their words and actions at the vigil and demonstration and elsewhere, that are peaceful and respectful. We must also bear in mind that the investigation of Mikayla’s death is ongoing. Deaths such as Mikayla’s must be investigated thoroughly and thoughtfully."

Community

Cannon-Grant pointed out some of Miller's family members were at the rally, wearing shirts with her picture. She asked that the community remember them in the weeks and months ahead.

After the rally, Miller's mother thanked everyone for showing up in honor of her daughter.

"What it says about the community is we are not as divided as some would believe," she told reporters after the vigil.

Rashida Sesay of Northboro said her main takeaway was a sense of community that formed in response.

"As a young Black woman growing up in the suburbs, it's really hard to get that community," she said holding, back tears. "To see that this thing happened to a girl — that could have been any of us — and to see how everybody came together. People who have never even heard of her. It's very empowering to see that strangers are coming together to support each other, to uplift each other to fight to know what happened to her."

Sesay said she's been to several Black Lives Matter rallies, but this one felt different.

"It was a life that was lost locally," she said. "This one hits close to home."

Into the woods

After most people left the Town Common, a small group of relatives made their way to where Miller’s body was found in the woods a mile down the road.

The cousins and friends walked the path covered in dried leaves where Miller spent her last moments. Two bouquets of flowers and a single white rose sat against a fallen tree, where the relatives said they were told she was found.

Nicole Coward and two friends from Brockton examined the tree. A lone woman walked off the path into the woods, scanning the leaves and underbrush for clues. Visitors pointed to a broken branch, wondered where the crime scene tape was and speculated on scenarios.

Repeating a phrase that echoed from friends and family, Coward said, "It just doesn't make any sense."

Watch the vigil and rally: