Pressley Calls For 'Independent Investigation' Of Mikayla Miller's Death In Hopkinton

HOPKINTON (CBS) – Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is calling for a "full, transparent, independent investigation" into the death of 16-year-old Mikayla Miller of Hopkinton.

Miller, a sophomore at Hopkinton High School, was found dead April 18, hanging from a tree in the woods along a trail off West Main Street, which runs back to the apartment complex where she lived.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said her office does not yet know how Miller died because the medical examiner's report is not finished, but she stopped short of calling it a suicide.

Ryan came forward with new information Tuesday about the hours leading up to Miller's death just days after Mikayla's mother and the group Violence in Boston fueled theories that the teen was murdered or bullied to death because of her race or sexuality.

Ryan said any allegation of a cover up is "patently false."

The D.A. said Miller and four other teens were involved in an altercation in the clubhouse of her Hopkinton apartment complex on Saturday April 17th. Mikayla told police she had been pushed and punched in the face.

Later that evening, the health app on Mikayla's phone logged 1,316 steps, the approximate distance between her apartment and where her body was found the next morning.

Investigators used cell phone evidence and witness interviews to determine none of the teens from the fight were with Mikayla during the hours she died.

Ryan would not say if race played a role in the incident.

"Mikayla Miller deserved to grow old. She had so many basketball games, road trips and HBCU homecomings ahead of her. She deserved childhood – uninterrupted," Pressely tweeted Tuesday night.

"There needs to be a full, transparent, independent investigation into her death."

Pressley represents Massachusetts's 7th congressional district, which does not include Hopkinton. The town is in the 4th district, which is represented by Democrat Jake Auchincloss.

Violence in Boston's Monica Cannon-Grant and former Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson also called for an independent investigation in Facebook posts.

They will lead a vigil in town Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at the marathon starting line. Due to heavy traffic expected in the downtown area, Hopkinton schools will have an early release on Thursday.