Wow. That is disturbing. Thank you so much for sharing that link, I think it really raises a lot of red flags about the suicide ruling. Before even reading that article, I felt that this was probably not a suicide and that the manner of death was rushed by the medical examiner, now I really have suspicions as to why it was rushed. If there were no witnesses to her allegedly climbing the fence then how could they rule it suicide? especially this quickly? The only reasons I can think of were outlined in the article above. This is really sad all around and I think that a thorough investigation by another county or by the state (not sure how it works in Michigan) needs to be done. If not, is the only other option for the family to hire a lawyer, private investigator, and then hire someone else to perform a second autopsy? I can't imagine how expensive that would be.
I'm extremely concerned and angered that the ruling of suicide was made so quickly. I think there's a small possibility that it was suicide, as anything is possible, but I think an attack where she was close to the fence and dragged in is also possible, as is the possibility of "misadventure" which would not be a suicide as we have previously discussed. By finding this a suicide at this juncture, the Medical examiner, imo, jumped to a conclusion. He hasn't even gotten the tox report back yet, why not leave it open or undetermined until at the very least the tox screens come back. If the ME still isn't sure can't he just leave it as "undetermined" or something and let the district attorney decide whether they want to bring charges against anyone criminally and if they do, then let a jury decide? By criminal charges, I don't necessarily mean second degree murder, it could be some type of negligence charge depending on what the district attorney feels they could prove. This can't even happen with a suicide ruling. So I hope someone really investigates thoroughly before determining suicide.
In terms of civil law, I have a question that maybe someone knows the answer to. Could the family still file a civil suit against the dogs owners and the homeowner with the suicide ruling and have any chance of recovering any money for her young child's future?
Sorry for the long post. Again, I know it's possible it is a suicide, like many have said, similar suicides have occurred at zoos but there were multiple witnesses or surveillance in these cases. But I do realize that it's hard to rationalize why some commit suicide in certain ways, so I'm not trying to say the ME's ruling is definitely wrong, I just think there's more to the story and a thorough investigation should be done.