Wednesday, December 04, 2024 - Bullies who pushed a 12-year-old girl to attempt suic!de, later visited her in the ICU to take photos which they then circulated on social media, a newly filed lawsuit claims.
Kelaia Turner was allegedly physically and verbally
assaulted by her mates who called her "roach" and
"moustache face" at the Dr Phinnize J Fisher Middle School in
Greenville County, her parents claim in a 24-page federal lawsuit against
school district officials for ignorance.
Her mother, Ty Turner, has said she believes the bullying
began when Kelaia started wearing her natural hair to school and escalated over
the years.
She claimed that instead of providing support and helping
reduce incidents, teachers joined in on the torture.
The bullying eventually became so bad that Kelaia was found
hanging from a belt in her bedroom at home, and was d£@d for a complete eight
minutes before paramedics could revive her.
She was in a coma for weeks and ended up staying in the
hospital for 101 days. It was during this period that the alleged bullies snuck
in and took photos of her.
Kelaia then suffered severe brain damage, and has been left
with no control over her body - instead relying on a tracheostomy tube to
breathe and a feeding tube.
The federal lawsuit claims Kelaia started experiencing
bullying in August 2021 when her classmates started calling her names and
saying she looked "like a man."
At one point, even her teacher, Olivia Bennett, allegedly
got in on the act.
"Ms. Bennett was complicit in the bullying and said
nothing to the other students to stop it," the suit says.
"One student asked, 'Where's the roach?' and Ms.
Bennett pointed to [Kelaia]."
Turner then emailed the teacher, as well as the principal of
the middle school, to complain about Bennett's actions, noting that
"children committed suic!de from this behavior in the past,"
according to the lawsuit.
The next day, it said, the principal acknowledged her
complaint and said they were "working tirelessly to repair whatever is
damaged."
In the aftermath, both Turner and Kelaia's father met with
the teacher to address the incident and discussed the need for the student
leading the bullying to be separated from their daughter.
But when the student found out that Kelaia told her parents,
he allegedly "cussed out" the preteen girl on January 26, 2022.
He was never disciplined for this, the lawsuit said.
It goes on to say that the bullying continued through 2022
"with no actions taken by the defendants," listing other incidents
and reports to school officials Turner made - including a fight between her
daughter and another student in March.
She claimed Kelaia was suspended in the aftermath and
"the student who caused the fight was not."
Then, on May 23, 2022, one of Kelaia's classmates played a
song on YouTube called The Black People Song, which teacher John Teer allegedly
allowed to be played without any comments about its offensiveness or any
reprimands to or discussions with the student who played it, according to the
suit.
Turner then complained to the principal and Metris Cain,
another teacher, and they were once again told that an investigation would be
conducted.
But in October, Turner said another student "had been
pushing [Kelaia] several times over the past month."
She claimed that the offending student was never punished,
and the only reaction from school officials was to tell Kelaia to report if it
happened again.
Still, the bullying continued, and at one point Kelaia's
clothes "had water poured on them and were then thrown into the
trash".
By March 11, 2023, Kelaia confided in a friend about her
thoughts of committing su!cide, and five days later, she was found hanging from
a belt in her bedroom at home.
According to Ty, the 12-year-old was d£@d for a complete
eight minutes before paramedics could revive her.
"She was cool to the touch, blood was coming out of her
nose, and she had already urinated on herself. She had fully committed to what
it was that she was attempting to do, and she was gone for eight whole minutes.
"Paramedics couldn't find a pulse, and they couldn't
find her heartbeat. There were grown men in the room crying,' Ty recalled.
But the religious mother kept praying and after a few
minutes, a paramedic found a faint pulse.
"He said, 'I found a pulse. It's very, very faint, but
I found one. I don't know what you're out here doing but I would say he should
keep doing it'. Kelaia is a miracle."
Once brought back to life, Kelaia was in a coma for weeks,
ultimately staying in the hospital for 101 days and suffered severe brain
damage.
The family now says nine individual teachers and faculty
members failed in their duties to "provide a culture of safety and an
environment free from assault."
The suit also cites violations of both the Equal Protection
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title IX protections against gender
discrimination.
The family is now seeking actual and punitive damages to cover medical bills, psychiatric expenses, special education, lost wages, life care expenses, disability care, injuries to her psyche and emotional state and loss of enjoyment of life.
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