MIDDLEBURG, Fla. – After reviewing the case of a Middleburg woman whose death was ruled a suicide five years ago, state agents have decided not to further investigate her death, despite her family's contention that she did not take her own life.
As a courtesy to her family, Kayla Skeen's case was reopened by the Clay County Sheriff's Office, which asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to review it.
Recommended Videos
An investigative report from FDLE said that after reviewing Clay County's files on the case, along with a complaint from a private investigator hired by Skeen's family, the FDLE would not be opening an investigation into Skeen's death.
Skeen was found dead in a wooded area in Middleburg with an electrical cord wrapped around her.
Investigators said the marks on her neck were consistent with the cord resting on the front of her throat and going up in an upward angle.
But in an episode of the TV show "Crime Watch Daily" that aired earlier this month, a forensics specialist said Skeen's 2013 death should have been ruled a homicide because of a horizontal mark across the back of her neck that doesn't come from hanging.
Her mother, Drema Skeen Allen, said Kayla's boyfriend was the last person to see her daughter alive and the first person to find her dead.
"There's never a doubt in my mind that Kayla did not do this," her mother said. "I want her death certificate changed. And I'm not going to stop no matter what. I want justice for my daughter."