Update in the Death of Mikayla Miller: Where Do Black Female Bodies Go from Here?

Quintessa L. Williams
6 min readMay 29, 2021
Growing memorial to Mikayla Miller, 16, on West Main Street in Hopkinton

On May 20th, my article on 16-year-old Mikayla Miller was featured in CULTURED Publication. It would mark my active following into the investigation of her case. As previously reported, Mikayla Miller was found hanging from a tree, with a belt around her neck on April 18th in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.

16-year-old Mikayla Miller, (pictured above)

In the initial analysis, investigators found no signs of struggle or foul play involved and immediately ruled Miller’s death a suicide. The medical examiner officially backed this ruling on May 20th. One month and 2 days after Miller’s death. The next day, Calvina Strothers (Miller’s mother) called for an independent investigation. In their official announcement, Monica Cannon-Grant, a spokesperson for Miller’s family also mentioned they were advised not to take the story public as it would reveal Miller’s sexual orientation. Miller was a strong advocate and member of the LGBT Community.

To the dismay of the investigators and police, the Miller case is slowly reaching national attention. And while the medical examiner has officially ruled Miller’s death a suicide, there is still more work to be done. The latest…

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Quintessa L. Williams

Afra-American Journalist 📝📚| #WEOC | Blacktivist | EIC of TDQ | Editor for Cultured & AfroSapiophile. Bylines in The Root, MadameNoire, ZORA, & Momentum.