Officials have released the cause and manner of death of a pregnant 16-year-old teen killed in June whose body was found in a set of woods in a rural Georgia this summer.
Mia Campos died as a result of suffocation, and her manner of death was ruled a homicide, a Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY Tuesday.
An autopsy conducted found Campos' cause of death was "asphyxia due to neck compression."
The teen was 38 weeks pregnant at the time of her killing, officials reported.
Relatives found Campos dead during the early morning hours of July 15 in Loganville, a city just over 30 miles east of Atlanta.
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Jesus Monroy, 17, is charged with malice murder, felony murder, feticide, and aggravated assault in the killing of 16-year-old Mia Campos, the Gwinnett County Police Department reported Tuesday.
On Aug. 28, Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Karen Beyers granted Monroy a $50,000 bond, according to court records and a video from the hearing.
On Tuesday, Monroy was not listed as an inmate at the Gwinnett County jail.
“This beautiful young girl’s child would have been born next month, and now both the mother and child are lost. We vehemently opposed this release,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said.
USA TODAY has previously reached out to his attorney.
The department originally arrested Monroy on a charge of making false statements to police in connection to the case on July 17, two days after the girl's body was found.
According to court records, Monroy is from Snellville, a city about 7 miles east of where Campos' body was found.
Police said lured Campos away from her home and suffocated her before moving her body.
On the day Campos' body was found, police said, the girl's family called 911 to report finding her body in a rural, wooded area off a roadway.
Family told detectives the night before her death, Campos left the house with an unknown person, police wrote in a news release.
When she failed to return home, her family used a cell phone application to find her body, police said
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.
