SAM AVERY - 16 yo (2007) - Elk Rapids MI

A medical examiner ruled the shooting death of an Elk Rapids teen a homicide, the Antrim County prosecutor said.
Sam Avery, 16, was found dead in his home Nov. 7, 2007. A medical
examiner in Grand Rapids recently ruled the death a homicide resulting
from a gunshot wound to the head, Prosecutor Charles Koop said.
Police for nearly two years wouldn't say if the wound appeared to be
self-inflicted or caused by another person. Authorities never publicly
named a suspect in the case, though Sam Avery's mother Anne
Avery-Miller said the investigation focused on her.
A probe into the death continues, Koop said.
He wouldn't say if charges are pending.
"The investigative team is meeting to review our options and what we're going to do," Koop said.

Avery Murder Investigation: A Timeline
by Bill Froehlich
Posted: 11.03.2009 at 7:53 PM

http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=371777


Teen's mother arrested two years after his death
Read more: Local, Anne Avery, Avery Miller, Sam Avery, Elk Rapids, Murder, Antrim County, Homicide

Anne Avery will be in court later this month, but between now and then - family will mark the two year anniversary of Sam Avery's death. Here's a look back at the timeline of what has been, so far, an unsolved murder investigation.

November 2007:

16 year old Sam Avery was found dead in his home - and his mother - Anne Avery Miller - told police Sam committed suicide.

January 2008:

Anne Avery disappeared, leaving friends to launch a search party out of fear that something happened to her.

Meanwhile, a bench warrant was issued for Avery's arrest after she missed a court appearance stemming from a felonious assault case.

February 2008:

Nearly a month after she went missing - Avery turned up - and turned herself in.

Family and friends finally knew she was safe - but her disappearance - and reappearance - left more questions than answers.

May of 2008:

Anne Avery was in court at a sentencing for an unrelated insurance fraud case. But her "character" - and her son's death also became a part of that court case.

Avery was sentenced to three months in jail in the insurance fraud case - while the investigation into her son's death continued.

November 2009:

A one person grand jury heard testimony and other evidence - and issued an indictment accusing Anne Avery of shooting her own son in the head nearly two years earlier.

Prosecutor Charles Koop wouldn't return phone calls. A spokeswoman in the Prosecutor's office referred us to a press release as the only statement on the indictment and arrest of Anne Avery.

Avery will be back in court in mid-November.

Investigators are still looking for information about Sam Avery's death. If you have any information you're asked to call the Michigan State Police.

May 5, 2010
Murder suspect Avery-Miller commits suicide

By Alex Piazza apiazza@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Wed May 05, 2010, 07:44 AM EDT

Traverse City — An Elk Rapids woman accused of slaying her teenage son turned off a jailhouse TV, returned to her cell and hanged herself from a bed sheet, authorities said.

Antrim County corrections officers found Anne Avery-Miller, 39, hanging from a bed sheet inside her jail cell just before 11 p.m. Monday. She died Tuesday at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City.

Authorities in November charged Avery-Miller with an open count of murder in the 2007 slaying of her son. She told police Sam Avery, 16, committed suicide. Sam Avery was shot in the back of the head in an upstairs bedroom in the Elk Rapids home where he lived with Avery-Miller and his young sister.

Three corrections officers checked on Avery-Miller at 10:22 p.m. as she prepared for bed, said Sheriff Dan Bean. Bean could not determine how long she hanged from her jail cell, but said she must have attempted to kill herself shortly after corrections officers checked on her.

Officers who found her cut the bedsheet with a pocket knife.

“When they cut her down, she was unconscious,” Bean said.

An ambulance arrived a few minutes later and took her to Kalkaska Memorial Hospital, then to Munson, where she later died.

Avery-Miller was placed on suicide watch last year when she entered the Antrim County Jail, but was not deemed suicidal after an evaluation and returned to a general population jail cell, Bean said.

“She kind of resented the fact that she was being watched,” said Carl Marlinga, Avery-Miller’s attorney. “That’s another reason that I’m surprised and perplexed as to how it could happen. We were assured that she was being watched.”

The sheriff’s department plans to conduct an internal investigation. Michigan State Police in Kalkaska also continue to investigate.

Avery-Miller showed no signs of suicidal behavior prior to the hanging, Bean said. She underwent a psychiatric evaluation in March to determine whether she was competent to stand trial, but the results are not yet available, said Antrim County Prosecutor Charles Koop.
http://record-eagle.com/breakingnews/x1691794452/Murder-suspect-Avery-Miller-commits-suicide

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/kalkaska-mi/T2669HGLDIP012U6O/p2

a lot of differing opinions on what happened

i guess this one goes under resolved - other

May 6, 2010
Questions surround Avery-Miller's death
Murder case ends after woman hangs herself inside Antrim cell

BY ALEX PIAZZA apiazza@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Thu May 06, 2010, 07:53 AM EDT

BELLAIRE — Anne Avery-Miller's suicide brings to an end a strange, tragic murder case involving her teenage son, but questions remain as to how she hanged herself inside a county jail cell.

Antrim County Sheriff Dan Bean and Michigan State Police in Kalkaska continue to investigate after three corrections officers on Monday found Avery-Miller, 39, of Elk Rapids, hanging by a bed sheet tied to the ceiling of her jail cell.

She died Tuesday night at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City.

"We'll go through and look at our protocols," Bean said. "I believe our employees did everything by the book."

Officers found Avery-Miller unconscious, hanging from the ceiling at 10:57 p.m., 35 minutes after their last check on her.

The American Correctional Association recommends officers conduct jail cell checks at irregular intervals every hour, said John Cordell, Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman. It's recommended corrections officers conduct cell checks every half-hour for inmates placed in involuntary segregation units, which includes those on suicide watch.

Authorities placed Avery-Miller on suicide watch last year when she entered the Antrim County Jail, but she was not deemed suicidal after an evaluation and was returned to a general population cell, Bean said.

Carl Marlinga, Avery-Miller's defense attorney, believes officers should've kept a better watch on his client, regardless of her placement in a general population cell.

"It certainly was Anne's expressed thought that she was not suicidal," Marlinga said. "However, the prosecution's case was built on the thought that at some point, she was suicidal. If there was any belief the prosecutor had that that theory was true, I think there should have been a very close watch of the jail. I'm just perplexed that a person was allowed that much privacy and the means to commit suicide."

Antrim County Prosecutor Charles Koop on Wednesday filed a motion to dismiss Avery-Miller's open count of murder charge, a common practice following a suspect's death. Thirteenth Circuit Court Judge Thomas Power is expected to sign the motion that will mark the culmination of a murder investigation that dates back three years.

In November 2007, Sam Avery, 16, was shot in the back of the head in an upstairs bedroom in the Elk Rapids home where he lived with Avery-Miller and his young sister. Avery-Miller contends he committed suicide, but authorities last November charged her with murder following grand jury proceedings presided over by 13th Circuit Court Judge Philip Rodgers.

The indictment alleged Avery-Miller confessed to a fellow patient in a mental health facility that she shot her son. She also wrote in a journal about plans to murder her children and herself, court records show.

But Marlinga contends Avery-Miller did not shoot Sam.

"I'm heartbroken and I personally believe in her innocence," he said.

Avery-Miller underwent a psychiatric evaluation in March to determine whether she was competent to stand trial, but Koop has yet to receive the test results.
http://record-eagle.com/local/x1829248077/Questions-surround-Avery-Millers-death