Traverse City Record-Eagle

Antrim County

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August 21, 2009

Elk Rapids teen's death ruled a homicide

BY ART BUKOWSKI

ELK RAPIDS -- A forensic pathologist deemed an Elk Rapids teen's 2007 shooting death a homicide, but the county prosecutor isn't ready to issue criminal charges.

Authorities found Sam Avery, 16, dead of a single gunshot wound to the head inside his U.S. 31 home the afternoon of Nov. 7, 2007. Avery, a junior at Elk Rapids High School, lived there with his mother, Anne Avery-Miller.

Grand Rapids-based forensic pathologist David A. Start recently ruled the death a homicide, though Antrim County Prosecutor Charles Koop said the homicide determination isn't enough evidence to issue charges.

"Any time you decide to charge someone with a felony, you better be sure you can to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt," Koop said. "Homicide is the most serious crime a prosecutor can make a decision on."

Koop and other investigators won't release details about a handgun recovered from the scene or other potential evidence, nor will they name a suspect. Avery-Miller and her friends contend she's considered the suspect.

Start declined comment. Koop wouldn't say why Start ruled the death a homicide or why the decision took so long, though he said the location and proximity of a gunshot helps a medical examiner make a decision.

Authorities initially wouldn't say if the wound appeared to be self-inflicted or caused by someone else.

Nearly two years have passed since the shooting and initial interviews, and Koop said his office and police now must review their case.

"What we're doing now is going over what we've already done and double-checking," Koop said.

Avery-Miller, 39, couldn't be reached for comment. Her friend, Deb Zerafa, contends Koop and other authorities unfairly targeted Avery-Miller.

"To take a woman who has been grieving the death of her son and suggest that she murdered him is beyond comprehension," Zerafa said.

Zerafa, who maintains regular contact with Avery-Miller, said the investigation has taken a heavy toll on her friend.

"I don't think there's words to describe it," she said. "I don't think a reasonable person, unless they've actually walked the walk, can even begin to understand the devastation this does to a person's life."

Koop, who never publicly named Avery-Miller as a suspect, dismissed Zerafa's allegations.

"My role is to look at the evidence and make a determination based on the evidence," he said.

Avery-Miller spent about three months in jail last year on a larceny by conversion conviction tied to a 2004 insurance fraud case.

Before that, she disappeared for about a month beginning Jan. 22, 2008 leading friends, relatives and authorities on a lengthy search. She later reappeared and revealed she traveled to a women's shelter in Nevada.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Elk Rapids Police at 264-6592.

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