[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
This is beyond heartbreaking. An 11-year-old girl died by suicide earlier this month after being bullied by her classmates at Gainesville Intermediate School over her family’s immigration status — and now her mom wants “justice” for her daughter.
According to KUVN, per CNN, Marbella Carranza received a call notifying her that her child Jocelynn Rojo Carranza was found unresponsive at their home in Gainesville, Texas, on February 3. She recalled of that horrible day:
“When I got home, they were still working on her, trying to revive her, she had been without life for a long time.”
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A GoFundMe stated the young girl was admitted to the intensive care unit but passed away five days later on February 8. Gut-wrenching. She was so young. Marbella told KUVN:
“All week I’ve been waiting for a miracle – waiting for my daughter to get better. But unfortunately there was nothing that could be done.”
The mom claimed Jocelynn had been tormented at school over her family’s immigration status, with kids in her sixth-grade class at Gainesville Intermediate School going as far as to threaten to “call immigration so they could take her parents away” and then “she would be left alone.” What absolutely vile behavior. Every single child should feel safe and welcomed at school, and it breaks our hearts that Jocelynn didn’t.
Marbella claimed the school knew about the alleged bullying her preteen faced as the child reported it a few times a week. But the mother claims no one ever told HER about it!
What?!
She had no idea about the horrors her own child dealt with at school and only found out when investigators told her following the tragedy. Now, Marbella wants the school to be held responsible for their “negligent” actions. She explained:
“It appears the school was aware of it all, but they never, they never told me what was happening with my daughter. It appears she would go once or twice a week to counseling to report what was happening. (I want) justice because it’s not fair – the school was negligent for not keeping me informed of what was going on with my daughter.”
An investigation into the situation is ongoing. The Gainesville Independent School District refused to address whether it had knowledge of the reports about the bullying against Jocelynn, telling CNN in a statement on Wednesday:
“Whenever we receive a report of bullying, we respond swiftly to ensure all students are safe physically and emotionally. While we cannot release any information about specific students or incidents, our schools have several policies in place to combat bullying and resolve conflicts.”
We are devastated by what happened. No parent should ever have to say goodbye to their child so young and under this kind of horrible circumstance. We will be keeping Jocelynn’s loved ones in our thoughts. Watch the emotional interview with Marbella, which is in Spanish, (below):
Rest in peace, Jocelynn.
For resources on mental health, visit https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help.
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, help is available. Consider contacting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, by calling, texting, or chatting, or go to 988lifeline.org.
[Image via GoFundMe, Univision DFW/YouTube]
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