Jocelyn Rojo Carranza, 11, took her own life after being bullied by students at Gainesville Intermediate School in Texas, according to her mother Marbella
An 11 year old girl has heartbreakingly taken her own life, with her mother claiming that bullying about her family’s immigration status was to blame.
Jocelyn Rojo Carranza died on February 8, just days after she was found unresponsive at her home in Texas.
Her devastated mum, Marbella, told KUVN, a local news outlet, about the cruel taunts her daughter endured at school.
She said: “They were going to call immigration so they could take her parents away, and she would be left alone.”
She didn’t give details about their immigration status but said that Gainesville Intermediate School in Texas, where Jocelynn studied, knew of the bullying but didn’t tell her.
Marbella later found out from investigators that her daughter had been receiving counseling.
Marbella said: “It appears the school was aware of it all, but they never, they never told me what was happening with my daughter. It appears she would go once or twice a week to counseling to report what was happening. (I want) justice because it’s not fair – the school was negligent for not keeping me informed of what was going on with my daughter.”
The Gainesville Independent School District has not yet commented on its knowledge of the bullying, reports the Mirror US.
“Whenever we receive a report of bullying, we respond swiftly to ensure all students are safe physically and emotionally. While we cannot release any information about specific students or incidents, our schools have several policies in place to combat bullying and resolve conflicts,” the district asserted to CNN.
The funeral service for young Jocelynn was held at St. Mary Catholic Church, where a mournful mariachi band played from the balcony as her casket, draped with a white cloth, rested in the very church where she had been baptised just over a decade ago.
“She didn’t know how to understand the things that happen in the world,” shared Gelasio Garcia, a deacon of the church, during the heart-wrenching service, according to CNN reports.
The school’s police force will continue with their investigation into the allegations of bullying.
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