SOUTHLAND, Mich. – A young woman from Michigan who was attending college in Tennessee has died after she was found lying in the road with head trauma. Video was discovered of the woman emerging from a car so police are investigating the case as a homicide, according to reports.
Mia Kanu, 23, was a senior at Tennessee State University with ambitions to become a veterinarian. She was discovered on Providence Drive in Southfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, about 4:30 a.m. June 3 after attending a house party with friends, according to the Detroit Free Press.
During a preliminary investigation, law enforcement authorities found surveillance video that captured Kanu either falling from or being pushed from the automobile onto Providence Drive near Coach Apartments, Fox 2 Detroit reported.
Although Kanu was rushed to Ascension Providence Hospital in Southfield, she did not survive and was pronounced dead on June 5. However, she remained on life support for another three days since she was an organ donor.
Mia Kanu died after being found in the middle of a road under mysterious circumstances. (Facebook / Mia Kanu)
Police have not released the video footage, which shows Kanu winding up in the roadway. However, authorities said her death is being treated as a homicide investigation.
“Anytime that there is an unnatural death, and especially concerning a young person, it is looked at as a homicide,” said Sgt. Jared Womble of the Southfield Police Department.
“There were no deformities. No disfigurement. Nothing of that magnitude that at that point and time would imply any type of assault,” Womble told CBS News Detroit. “As of now, we don’t have any evidence that would suggest another vehicle struck her.”
Kanu was in the vehicle with two other people who’ve been identified and are cooperating with the investigation, police said.
“It’s our understanding that there was an argument between the driver and another individual in the parking lot of the apartment complex that they had left,” Deputy Police Chief Jeff Jagielski told Fox 2.
Law enforcement authorities have not revealed results from the autopsy other than saying “she did have significant head trauma,” WXYZ reported.
Bianca Vanmeter is Kanu’s mother. Naturally, she is desperate for answers about her daughter’s mysterious death, according to the New York Post.
“Something happened and somebody knows something, and we just want those answers,” she told Fox 2. “If they could just tell the true story of what happened and why they didn’t go back for her, why they didn’t help her more. I would really want to know that.”
“I want to know what really happened and if they were with friends, why wouldn’t they call 911?” Vanmeter queried when speaking to WXYZ.
The last time Vanmeter saw Kanu, who returned to Michigan for summer vacation, was the morning of June 2. A female friend picked her up from work at the Green Lantern restaurant in Berkley. She later attended a party at a private residence that evening with several friends.
The Free Press reported that Kanu was part of the TSU Agriculture Department and had spent time working on a farm caring for animals. She also worked as a veterinary tech at the Richland Animal Clinic in Tennessee.
“Kanu was very passionate about educating pet owners about pet care,” said clinic manager Dawn Elza.
“She knew all the names and personalities of all the pet boarders that would board regularly with us, and she had big goals and dreams of having her own business and being a veterinarian,” she added.
Vanmeter posted a heartbreaking video on Facebook of Kanu being taken on an “honor walk” at the hospital, where she is seen being rolled on a bed to have her organs harvested as people lined the hallway.
“There was no brain activity,” Vanmeter told the Free Press. “Her liver went to a baby, her kidneys went to a recipient and her tissues and muscles were donated to the Gift of Life.”
The grieving mother reflected on her daughter’s life, saying her first love was for animals, the Post reported.
“She loved it there (at TSU)” Vanmeter said. “She was already counting the days for when she could go back to school.”
Kanu is survived by her mother, father, a stepmother, four sisters, a brother and a host of other relatives and friends.
