There have been many sad losses in the celebrity world this year, but Mya-Lecia Naylor‘s may be the most tragic in that she died so young.
The British actress found early success in films like Cloud Atlas, acting opposite Tom Hanks, and on TV shows Almost Never and Millie Inbetween.
The rising star was only 16 years old when she died.
Mya-Lecia was found in her family home in London back on April 7. At the time the cause of death was kept under wraps, with reports coming out she had collapsed. Now we know why the matter was treated with such care.
[Trigger Warning: Sensitive Content]
The teen hanged herself.
The results of the coroner’s report have now been made public, and while it reveals her death was caused by hanging, the coroner was swayed by statements from her family and did not rule the death a suicide.
The initial police report noted the 16-year-old had been grounded by her parents and not allowed to attend a party; she was also scheduled to take her exams over the summer, and her parents had recently been called by the school to say her grades needed improvement. For them the case was deemed “unsuspicious.”
However, Mya-Lecia’s father, Martin Naylor, argued to South London Coroner’s Court his daughter did not intend to kill herself but was being dramatic and accidentally died for real:
“She was possibly trying to make a point. I honestly believe, maybe because she was grounded, but I believe she didn’t mean it. If she knew something different… unfortunately what she used worked very well. I don’t think she meant to do it. It was a spur of the moment.”
The grieving father tried to convince the court his daughter would not have committed suicide.
“If you look at her social media, you could see she had a lot planned for the future. She was keen to get back to the acting. Other than the worry from the school, she was a happy child. She had everything she wanted to have.”
Police agreed there was nothing suspicious in her social media, phone, or computer. The toxicology report showed no sign of drugs or alcohol.
Naylor averred:
“She wasn’t a moody teenager at all. She would joke about being moody, normally.”
He admitted she was “stressed about exams” but dismissed the notion that stress had been too much for her:
“I don’t think that the exams warranted that reaction. We had said to her GCSEs are important but nothing is as important as you. Don’t get too stressed about it. It’s not worthy of being too stressed. I believe it was a spur of the moment silliness.”
Assistant coroner Toby Watkin ultimately agreed. In his official statement, he ruled:
“My conclusions are Mya-Lecia Naylor died at Croydon University Hospital from fatal pressure to her neck. I find she did not intend to end her own life. By all probabilities, I find she died by misadventure.”
If she really did not intend to take her own life but was just intending to make a statement, we can’t say it makes the matter less tragic.
She is still a bright light gone out far too early.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
[Image via Mya-Lecia Naylor/Instagram.]
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