OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Police on Friday launched video of the moments earlier than and after a combat in an Oklahoma highschool rest room the place the mom of a nonbinary pupil says the 16-year-old was knocked to the ground, and in a 911 name their mom made the following day she expressed concern a couple of head damage.
The teenager died a short time later.
Sue Benedict, the mom of Nex Benedict, instructed a 911 operator that Nex had hit their head on the toilet flooring when the scholars who beat them up “knocked” them to the bottom.
Benedict mentioned through the Feb. 8 name made about 1 p.m. that the teenager’s eyes have been rolling again, their respiration was shallow and their arms have been curled, in keeping with the audio launched by police within the Tulsa suburb of Owasso.
She mentioned Nex had complained of a headache, and he or she had taken the teenager to the hospital after the altercation the day earlier than.
“I hope this ain’t from her head. They have been presupposed to have checked her out good,” mentioned Benedict, who remained calm through the name and mentioned she had been to nursing faculty. Sue Benedict mentioned in a press release on a GoFundMe page set as much as assist cowl funeral bills that the household was nonetheless studying to make use of the teenager’s most well-liked identify and pronouns.
Paramedics responding to the household’s home carried out CPR and rushed Nex to the hospital, the place Nex later died.
The video launched by police from the highschool on Feb. 7 exhibits college students strolling into after which out a WC after stacking chairs on prime of tables in a cafeteria. Six college students are seen getting into the toilet earlier than Nex, who stops at a water fountain after which enters the toilet together with two different college students. A college member is then seen going into the toilet, and the scholars stroll out.
There isn’t a indication from the footage, which solely exhibits the toilet door and a part of the cafeteria, of what occurred within the rest room.
One other video exhibits Nex being walked out of the college by a safety officer and being picked up by a guardian.
In audio of the decision Benedict made to police on Feb. 7 at about 3:30 p.m. from the hospital, she says Nex was “jumped” within the rest room, and he or she mentioned she wished an officer to come back so she might file prices.
However in keeping with a police search warrant that was signed the day after Benedict’s demise, she instructed the responding officers that she did not need to file prices at the moment. She as a substitute requested police to talk to highschool officers about points on campus amongst college students.
Benedict told The Independent later that the teenager had suffered bruises throughout their face and eyes within the combat.
The varsity district has mentioned the scholars have been within the restroom for lower than two minutes earlier than the combat was damaged up by different college students and a employees member. Police and faculty officers haven’t mentioned what provoked the combat.
The household, by way of their lawyer, declined to remark Friday on the search warrant. The legal professional didn’t instantly provide any touch upon behalf of the household on the video and audio launched. Earlier this week, they mentioned they’ve launched their very own impartial investigation into what occurred.
Vigils are deliberate over the weekend in Oklahoma for the teenager.
The search warrant, which was signed the day after Benedict’s demise, additionally exhibits investigators took 137 footage on the faculty, together with contained in the lady’s rest room the place the combat occurred. They moreover collected two swabs of stains from the toilet and retrieved data and paperwork of the scholars concerned within the altercation.
Whereas the two-week-old warrant states that police have been looking for proof in a felony homicide, the division has since mentioned Benedict’s demise was not a results of accidents suffered within the combat, primarily based on the preliminary outcomes of the post-mortem.
The police division, which didn’t reply to a number of messages despatched Friday, has mentioned it received’t remark additional on the teenager’s reason behind demise till toxicology and different post-mortem outcomes are accomplished.
Owasso faculty officers, in the meantime, mentioned Friday that they requested police receive the courtroom order to go looking the college due to state and federal privateness legal guidelines relating to the discharge of confidential pupil data.
“We’re persevering with to cooperate with the Owasso Police Division’s ongoing investigation,” Jordan Korphage, a faculty district spokesperson, wrote in an e-mail.
Tulsa County District Lawyer Steve Kunzweiler, whose workplace isn’t at present concerned within the police investigation, referred to as the demise a tragedy however cautioned folks towards being “swayed by sentiments fueled by the eagerness of feelings which can be misinformed.”
“A household in our neighborhood is grieving and we empathize with their sorrow throughout this troublesome time,” he wrote in an e-mail Friday. “Whereas a lot has been speculated about this baby’s demise in social media, we’ll preserve the integrity of regulation enforcement’s investigation, and permit them to do their job.”
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Marcelo reported from New York. Related Press author Jamie Stengle additionally contributed to this report from Dallas.
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