CBBC star died in 'misadventure,' coroner rules

9 September 2019, 14:15

CBBC star Mya-Lecia Naylor died by misadventure after hanging herself at her family home, a coroner has ruled.

Mya-Lecia Naylor, 16, who appeared in CBBC shows Millie Inbetween and Almost Never, died on Sunday 7 April.

The actress was found dead in a marquee at her family home in South Norwood.

She was taken to Croydon University Hospital, but was pronounced dead a short while later.

The inquest heard she was found hanged. She had spent the evening before her death watching a film with her family and had been planning for the future.

Her family said she had been grounded and stopped from going to a party and had some worries about her GCSE results being worse than expected but added nothing had suggested she wanted to take her own life.

The coroner said Naylor had no alcohol or drugs in her system and her father Martin Naylor added he had seen her two hours before she was found, and felt it was "a spur of the moment" act and she had not intended to kill herself.

He told South London Coroners Court: "I honestly believe she was just making some sort of point.

"I genuinely believe she did not mean to do it."

CBBC said she was a "much-loved part of the BBC Children's family and a hugely talented actress, singer and dancer".

Tributes have been paid to the teenager, who starred as Fran in two series of Millie Inbetween, about two sisters whose parents have split up, and Mya in Almost Never, about a fictional boyband and rival girl group Girls Here First.