Information
She was tormented twice — as soon as by faculty bullies, after which once more by social media.
The younger New Jersey teen who took her personal life after struggling a humiliating bullying assault at her highschool died by suicide simply hours after getting a taunting textual content about footage of the beating posted on-line, her devastated dad mentioned Friday.
“They used the video to proceed to harass and intimidate her and make enjoyable of her,” Michael Kuch instructed The Publish of his daughter, Adriana Kuch.
Hours earlier than Adriana’s dying, one of many ladies who recorded the assault within the hallway at Central Regional Excessive Faculty in Berkeley Township despatched Adriana a textual content mocking her for being lined in “dripping blood” and getting her “a– whooped.”
The tormented teen was pushed to suicide as a result of she was embarrassed footage of the beatdown unfold quickly on TikTok and Snapchat, Kuch instructed The Every day Mail.
“She was so embarrassed that they jumped her. She would say, ‘I don’t wish to be made enjoyable of,’” he instructed the outlet.
“It was like she was attacked twice. It was you’d go to highschool, get bullied and then you definitely left. However now you come house and you retain getting bullied — they nonetheless hold choosing at you house,” he mentioned.
One of many teenage ladies chargeable for the bloody on-campus beating Feb. 1 continues to churn out disrespectful social media posts even after Adriana’s heartbreaking dying, Kuch instructed The Publish..
“[She] has nonetheless been posting stuff even after Adrianna’s dying on Snapchap,” hesaid, the bullies’ mother and father ought to put an finish to the tech-based torture.
“I wish to know why their daughters nonetheless have cell telephones,” he fumed.
Adriana was discovered useless in a closet in her house Feb. 3, two days after a video posted on-line confirmed the merciless assault whereas walked together with her boyfriend, Jason Lopez, down a faculty hallway.
In the course of the beating — wherein a bunch of women hit her with a water bottle and taunted her — all however one of many ladies took video of the assault, Kuch mentioned.
The one woman who didn’t was “busy smashing my daughter’s face in with the bottle,” Kuch mentioned.
Kuch mentioned one of many bullies allegedly instigated the ugly assault as a result of she was jealous about Adriana’s friendship with one other woman — and blames the college district for failing to guard his daughter.
“I used to be not instructed that she was hit within the face with the bottle. I used to be not instructed that she blacked out. I used to be not instructed that there [were] a number of ladies concerned,” he instructed The Publish. “I used to be instructed there was one woman concerned. And so they didn’t even name an ambulance after my daughter was blacked out after being smashed within the face thrice.”
“If these movies hadn’t been posted, these ladies would have ended up with a one-day suspension or in no bother in any respect,,” he fumed.
Three ladies have been charged with third-degree felony assault and a fourth was charged with disorderly conduct.
Earlier, Kuch denied the assault was racially motivated — insisting a principle in regards to the vicious assault was “rubbish” — after allegations popped up on social media.
“Adriana was stunning and he or she beloved everybody, she didn’t care about race, the world can be a greater place if everybody was as colorblind as she was,” Kuch wrote on Fb Thursday, responding to hypothesis that race performed a job within the violence.
Kuch posted a screengrab from an Instagram Story of what seems to be a rally held to protest the incident.
Over the picture, an Instagram consumer wrote, “They’re protesting about that white woman.”
“Nah, cuz wtf why does black folks try this to the white woman,” the consumer continued, claiming “black folks know that white [people] hate them nonetheless.”
Kuch’s daughter was white; the race of the assailants within the disturbing footage was unclear.
He responded to the Instagram Story, saying, “Persons are sending me rubbish like this, I’m not right here to make it about race.”
Kuch has insisted bullying performed a job in his daughter’s dying.
“Adriana was stunning and he or she beloved everybody, she didn’t care about race, the world can be a greater place if everybody was as colorblind as she was,” he wrote WABC.
Greater than 6,500 group members have signed on to a petition on Change.org titled “Cease the Violence at Central Regional Excessive Faculty.”
The petition was launched by Racheal O’Dea, who wrote that her daughter additionally was “jumped and bodily assaulted by MULTIPLE ladies” on the faculty in January 2022.
“She had reported threats and their earlier stalking to the college weeks earlier than it occurred and NOTHING was achieved! The assault was recorded and despatched throughout social media,” O’Dea wrote.
She mentioned the household has filed a lawsuit towards the district “attributable to their negligence and involvement.”
“Now right here we’re virtually a yr later, and now we have now misplaced a ravishing 14-year-old soul who was brutally attacked at Central Regional HS simply days earlier than taking her personal life. A life stolen manner too quickly. Dad and mom our youngsters usually are not secure!” O’Dea wrote within the petition.
“This faculty is just too busy attempting to avoid wasting their very own asses than do their job! The underside line is the violence at Central Regional must STOP! There must be a change in administration, there must be extra safety, the college shouldn’t be in a position to solely label these incidents,” she continued.
O’Dea claimed the district describes incidents of violence as “hallway disturbances” to keep away from calling police.
“College students do higher … cease hurting one another and in the event you see somebody being harm name 911! It isn’t a combat, it’s not an altercation, its not a hallway disturbance ….. ITS CALLED ASSAULT,” she wrote.
View Gallery
Within the footage shared on-line, Adriana was seen being attacked with a water bottle as she walked within the hallway together with her boyfriend. An individual was reportedly heard yelling: “That’s what you get, you silly a– b—!”
“They assume it’s enjoyable to assault folks and take movies and put up them,” her dad instructed WABC.
“Getting hit with a water bottle didn’t harm Adriana, what harm her was the embarrassment and humiliation, they simply saved coming at her,” Kuch mentioned.
“My daughter truly blacks out they usually don’t name an ambulance, they take her to the nurse’s workplace,” he mentioned, including Adriana had “by no means been in a combat earlier than, she’s 98 kilos, 5-2 and he or she loves everyone.”
On Thursday, Faculties Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides defended the college’s response to the bullying, citing its coverage of not reporting incidents to police.
“If a state of affairs warrants it, we’ll name (police), however on this case the scholars have been suspended instantly,” he instructed The Publish, including the scholars concerned face legal expenses.
“We deal with each incident of bullying, however a few of it’s on the web and we aren’t aware about that,” he mentioned. “We’re not the web police however we don’t put our head within the sand.”
Kuch mentioned when he requested why the women hadn’t been expelled, faculty officers instructed him it’s not the district’s “coverage,” in keeping with the Every day Mail.
“If that they had solely simply referred to as the police and the women would have been rounded up there after which, everyone would have seen it was incorrect,” he instructed the outlet. “It pains me how simply this all might have been solved.”
The day after she was attacked, Adriana stayed house, the place she lived together with her dad, 16-year-old brother and two stepsisters Her mother died when Adriana was 7 years previous.
“We hung out collectively … she determined that she wished to return to highschool the subsequent day,” Kuch instructed the Every day Mail. “She went to her boyfriend’s home in the course of the day. I bought house at round 5 o’clock.”
“We had McDonald’s and I bought her her favourite, the crispy rooster sandwich. We had dinner, we talked about associates and making life selections … I type of appreciated to lecture her,” he mentioned, including Adriana gave the impression to be “in an excellent temper.”
He mentioned cellphone data present Adriana despatched her boyfriend a final textual content message at 10:46 p.m. earlier than she ended her life.
At 5 a.m. the subsequent day, Kuch mentioned, he was within the kitchen when his spouse went to wake Adriana up.
“I simply heard her screaming, ‘No!’ I ran downstairs and see instantly that her mattress’s empty. At first I believed, ‘Did she sneak out to her boyfriend’s?’ That’s once I turned left, and I noticed her there, within the closet,” he instructed the outlet.
“She had on the identical garments that she’d been carrying the day earlier than. A brown jacket I had simply purchased her. She beloved that jacket,” he mentioned.
Maureen Brogan, a counselor who leads the Traumatic Loss Coalitions for Youth at Rutgers College, instructed NJ.com that analysis exhibits bullying alone shouldn’t be thought to trigger suicide, however is usually a contributing issue.
“What we all know within the subject is that suicide is a particularly advanced problem,” Brogan, who sits on the state’s Youngster Fatality and Close to Fatality Evaluate Board, instructed the outlet.
“It’s multi-faceted. It’s not one factor causes it, however it’s a mixture of danger components,” she added.
Faculty districts in New Jersey reported 18,576 incidents of violence, vandalism, weapons, substance use and bullying within the 2019-20 faculty yr, NJ.com reported, citing information from the state Division of Schooling.
In 2019, one in every of six New Jersey highschool college students, or 16.4%, reported being bullied on faculty property, whereas 13.8% reported being cyberbullied, in keeping with information culled by the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
On Friday morning, Kuch shared a put up opening up about his grief.
“Final night time I used to be so drained I actually couldn’t cry. I slept for nearly 5 hours and now again to tears. sleep could have been a foul concept,” he wrote.
If you’re battling suicidal ideas or are experiencing a psychological well being disaster and dwell in New York Metropolis, you’ll be able to name 1-888-NYC-WELL totally free and confidential disaster counseling. When you dwell exterior the 5 boroughs, you’ll be able to dial the 24/7 Nationwide Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.