SMITHVILLE – Police confirmed they are now investigating the death of an Oxford teen in Smithville as a criminal homicide and that official charges will be coming soon.

Chenango County Sheriff Ernest R. Cutting Jr., said recent results from forensic evidence, and other pieces of information collecting during the investigation, had indicated the death, which involved a firearm, was not an accident.

The Sheriff said at about 6:51 p.m. on Friday, May 3, police responded to 136 Water Street in the Town of Smithville and discovered the body of 16-year-old Amelia Wakefield, from the Village of Oxford.

“As we got into the investigation a couple stories changed. Also, we got forensics back confirming the direction we are on,” said Cutting. “At that point it changed from a death investigation into a homicide investigation.”

Inside the home when police arrived were at least two other people, the sheriff identified them as the victim's boyfriend and boyfriend's mother. At the time of the death the victim's boyfriend, later identified as Cody D. Coleman, 18, of Smithville, was on probation.