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  • February 14, 2025
Kelaia Turner, bullied into attempting suicide, was not protected

Kelaia Turner, bullied into attempting suicide, was not protected

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For Kelaia Turner’s tormentors – her high school classmates – bullying her to the point where she committed suicide wasn’t enough as a solution.

Kelaia Turner, bullied into attempting suicide, was not protected

Source: Ty Turner / Ty Turner

Even after learning the impact of their mockery of the then 12-year-old – she hanged herself in 2023 and was dead for eight minutes before paramedics could revive her – they wanted her to suffer more.

So one of them visited Kelaia in the hospital for the sole purpose of taking a photo of her in intensive care, mocking and spreading lies about her injuries on social media.

This is evident from a lawsuit filed by Ty Turner, the mother of the now 14-year-old, who claims her daughter was subjected to physical and verbal abuse by classmates at the Dr. Phinnize J. Fisher Middle School in Greenville, South Carolina.

“They always taught us, ‘Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me’.” Ty told WFY44. “Unfortunately, words hurt.”

According to Ty’s complaint, the bullying began in 2021 when Kelaia began wearing her natural hair to school while classmates called her “roach” and told her she looked “like a man.”

What makes this all the more threatening is that Kelaia’s teacher, Olivia Bennett, reportedly did not correct her students when they did this. Instead, she encouraged Kelaia’s bullies.

When one of the bullies would ask Bennett, “Where’s the cockroach?” she would acknowledge Kelaia.

The insults continued as a result of that kind of tacit encouragement and even increased after Kelaia’s mother spoke to school officials.

Kelaia’s parents were promised that Kelaia would move to a new grade, but that didn’t make her time at school any better.

The following year, Kelaia got into a fight with one of her bullies, but only Kelaia was suspended from school.

A few months later, in May 2022, she was again targeted by classmates for playing an offensive YouTube video called “The Black People Song.”

Again, instead of the teacher, John Teer, correcting the students, he would let the song play freely.

“Defendant Teer allowed the song to be played without any comment on its offensiveness, nor any reprimand or discussion with the student who played it,” the complaint said.

Later that year, the bullies poured water on Kelaia’s clothes and threw them in the trash.

Kelaia’s parents say they continuously complained to the district throughout this entire ordeal, only because they didn’t take steps to stop the bullying.

These are the circumstances that unfortunately led Kelaia to the conclusion that her only answer was to try to take her life.

“She was cool to the touch, there was blood coming out of her nose,” her mother recalled of her daughter’s body after the suicide attempt. “She was completely committed to what she was trying to do, and she was gone for eight whole minutes.”

Although Kelaia managed to survive, she suffered severe brain damage, was in a coma for weeks and lost control of her body.

She can’t talk. She needs a fetal tube. She is now completely dependent on her parents.

Kelaia’s life is changed forever, but her mother says she believes she will one day be restored.

In the meantime, the lawsuit seeks damages to cover Kelaia’s medical bills, psychiatric expenses, special educational needs, lost parental wages, life care expenses, disability care, damage to her psyche and emotional state, and loss of enjoyment of life.

In a statement to PeopleGreenville County Schools spokesman Tim Waller said the district extends its “sincere condolences” to Kelaia and her family but denies responsibility.

“The school and district administrations investigated and addressed each of the reported incidents in accordance with policy and law,” Waller said. “No parent concerns or reports of bullying were ignored, and all were discussed directly with the student’s mother. We strongly deny the allegations made in the lawsuit that bullying and parental concerns at Fisher Middle School have not been addressed. To preserve the integrity of the trial process, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further on the details of the case.”

I wasn’t there to witness what was alleged, but I’ve written enough about black students who attempted suicide for fifteen years to point out a few things.

Firstly, whether it is widely recognized or not, it is difficult to deny that society has become crueler – something that is due to many factors, but certainly to social media.

Unfortunately, that also applies to children, some of whom now appear to be no less depraved than any other troll who wants to go viral at the expense of someone else’s misery.

Second, racism in America is as vibrant as ever, and in school districts where well over 60% of the population is white, I tend to be suspicious of such strong denials of detailed allegations of racism.

Kelaia Turner, 12-year-old girl who survived a near-fatal suicide after bullying, should have been protected

Source: Ty Turner / Ty Turner

If those teachers and school administrators had left their jobs, Kelaia would not have spent 101 days in the hospital, 31 of which were in intensive care.

The casual insensitivity of the district’s statement alone makes me hope Kelaia’s family gets every dollar they seek and then some.

Whatever policies and laws the school district claims to have followed are outdated and failed Kelaia Turner.

The answer is not to continue to abandon her by leaving her parents with a GoFundMe fundraiser to cover the consequences.

They need to make amends – and they need to do their best to protect other students like them.

Michael Arceneaux is a New York Times bestselling author whose most recent book, “I Finally Bought Some Jordans,” was published in March.

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