GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders Senior Staff Attorney Polly Crozier issued the following statement amid ongoing concerns about the handling of the investigation into the assault and death of Mikayla Miller, a Black, LGBTQ Hopkinton teenager who was found dead near her home last month. Miller’s family has raised questions about the actions of the Hopkinton police, State Police, and the Middlesex district attorney’s office, expressing concerns that Mikayla being Black and LGBTQ may have played a role in the handling of the investigation.

My heart breaks for Mikayla’s mother, Calvina Strothers, for her family and friends, and for the tragic loss of a young, Black, LGBTQ girl who should have had so many more years ahead of her to thrive in the love of her family and friends, get her driver’s license, go to college, play basketball, and live out all of her many her dreams. GLAD joins with Ms. Strothers, Violence in Boston, and others in the community in raising concerns about the handling of the investigation into what happened to Mikayla, and supports the family’s calls for a full, independent, and transparent examination of what transpired.

Miller’s mother has stated that police told her not to go to the media because doing so would out her daughter as LGBTQ. Such an allegation is appalling. As Ms. Strothers said at the vigil and rally yesterday, Mikayla’s LGBTQ status was known. She was a much-loved and cherished child in all of her many dimensions. Anti-Black and anti-LGBTQ violence and discrimination destroys lives and devastates communities. We must address it swiftly, seek accountability, and work relentlessly for change. 

We stand in support of Ms. Strothers, and we lift up her call for DA Ryan to recuse herself from the investigation in favor of an independent investigation. #JusticeforMikaylaMiller