The U.S. Department of Education has launched an investigation into the death of a 16-year-old non-binary student who was beaten to death by bullies in a bathroom the previous day in an Oklahoma school district.
The investigation follows multiple complaints filed Friday by the Human Rights Campaign alleging that Owasso Public Schools “failed to adequately respond to sexual harassment that may have contributed to Nex Benedict’s tragic death.” It was started in .
Nex, who used he/they pronouns, died on February 8, a day after he got into an argument with a group of girls and slammed the boy’s head against the floor until he lost consciousness.
In a video taken after the fight, the second-graders told school officials that the girls had been “hosting” them and their friends for several days over their clothing. It is said that the school was aware of the bullying but did not take any action.
“Their deaths are a gruesome tragedy of widespread anti-trans hate across the country, and are part of Owasso High School’s failure to address harassment and discrimination on campus starting in 2023. ‘We need to investigate the school year’ HRC President Kelly Robinson wrote in the petition last week.
“Schools have a duty to provide equal educational opportunities, including safe and enriching learning environments, for the well-being of all students. We are deeply concerned about the failure to address these cases.”
Federal Ministry of Energy notified HRC on Friday. The school has launched an investigation into the complaint, specifically looking into whether the district “failed to adequately respond to allegations of student harassment” within the requirements of Title IX and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Stated.
Owasso Public Schools confirmed to the Post that it received notice of the investigation on Friday.
“The district is committed to cooperating with federal authorities and believes the complaints filed by HRC are not supported by facts and without merit,” the district said in a statement.
An official autopsy report has not been released, but officials said preliminary results indicate Nex did not die from trauma, but that a scuffle in the bathroom may have contributed to her death. The company has not yet ruled out the possibility that this may have happened.
The day before he died, Mr Nex told police from his hospital bed the events leading up to the scuffle, saying he had poured water on a group of girls because he was tired of being bullied.
The teenager’s friends and family have since claimed that the brutal torture Nex endured because of his gender identity was an open secret at the school and that administrators and faculty had turned a blind eye. There is.
Last week, dozens of students and teachers came out of Owasso High School to protest the school’s lack of response to Nex’s bullying and mistreatment of students.
Nex’s family said they have launched an independent investigation into the boy’s death and are calling for “those responsible to be held accountable and to ensure it never happens again.”
The family said some facts about the incident have not been made public and are “not least troubling,” adding, “The school, local government, the state, He called on national authorities to cooperate.
