A California teen died from injuries sustained in a fight with a bully inside a Los Angeles-area high school bathroom earlier this month, her mother said.
Shaylee Mejia, 16, suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage, reportedly related to several violent fights at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, leaving her mother Maria Juarez in distress. There is. he told KTLA.
During the apparent fatal scuffle on March 5, Mejia was seen hitting his head and falling to the floor in a bathroom stall.
According to her mother, the girl complained of a headache but attended classes for several days.
Four days after the fight, Mejia attended a party where he passed out and was rushed to the hospital by a friend.
She remained unconscious until her death on March 15th.
Doctors said Mejia suffered a fatal brain injury and suffered a fatal hemorrhage, the paper said.
Juarez, a single mother of two, claimed that since Mejia enrolled in a South Los Angeles public school eight months ago, she often came home covered in bruises.
The distraught mother photographed and documented her daughter’s injuries and alerted school officials and campus police, but her pleas for help went unheeded, according to KTLA.
Juarez, a housekeeper and sole supporter for her family, said she only learned about the March 5 fighting after her daughter’s death.
The grieving mother blamed the school for the tragedy after reporting the video to authorities and claiming nothing was done to the bullies.
“Everyone knows that she hit her head, and the teachers know too,” Juarez told the outlet. “everyone knows.”
The official cause of death has not yet been determined and an investigation is ongoing.
Part of the investigation will look into claims that Mejia fell down the stairs.
“We are saddened to report that one of our students recently passed away off campus. On behalf of the entire school community, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to those affected by this loss, including the student’s family, friends, and teachers. I would like to express my deepest condolences to the people,” Manual Arts High School Principal Alejandro Macias said in a statement obtained by KTLA.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay for Juarez’s daughter’s funeral expenses.
The fundraising page reads: “We are trying to save money to help pay for Shay’s mother’s funeral expenses. Please help us in any way you can to help Shaylee rest in peace. Her death will be a huge loss for many of us. It was tragic.”
Mejia’s brawl occurred just days before 16-year-old teenager Kaylee Gein was seriously injured in a high school fight.
Gein was struck repeatedly in the head on the sidewalk in the stomach-churning attack on March 8 near Hazelwood East High School in Spanish Lake, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.
She suffered a skull fracture, life-threatening brain swelling and bleeding, and has not yet regained consciousness, according to a statement shared by her family’s attorney on Monday.
