SandyMaloneAurora, CO – A 10-year-old girl committed suicide after being bullied over a video of a fight that was posted to social media (video below).
Her parents told KDVR that their daughter, Ashawnty Davis, was a happy little girl until an after-school fight in October.
“My daughter came home two weeks later and hanged herself in the closet,” her mother, Latoshia Harris, said.
Somebody filmed the fight, which her parents said happened because their Sunrise Elementary School fifth grader decided to stand up for herself.
In the video, Ashawnty and another girl were fighting, while a group of kids watched, FOX News reported.
According to Ashawnty’s mother, her daughter confronted the other girl, who she claimed had been bullying her.
“I saw my daughter was scared,” Harris said.
But things got worse for Ashawnty after the fight.
“She was devastated when she found out that it had made it to Musical.ly,” Harris said.
Ashawnty got bullied even more after the video went public. Her parents said she couldn’t handle it, and hanged herself herself.
She spent two weeks on life support and died at Children’s Hospital Colorado two weeks later, KDVR reported.
Her father, Anthony Davis, said his daughter was a victim of “bullycide,” a term for when someone commits suicide because of bullying.
“We have to stop it and we have to stop it within our kids,” he said.
The Cherry Creek School District released the following statement:
“This is a heartbreaking loss for the school community. Mental health supports will be made available for any students who need help processing the loss.
We do not tolerate bullying of any kind in our schools and we have a comprehensive bullying prevention program in place at all of our schools. The safety and wellbeing of students is our highest priority and we strive every today to ensure schools are safe, welcoming and supportive places that support learning.
We were made aware of that video when a media outlet approached us with it. We took immediate action in response, turning the video over to police and addressing the matter with students.
It should also be noted that the video did not take place during school hours.”
You can see edited clips of the video in the broadcast below: