The Associated Press
OWASSO, Okla. — The death of a nonbinary student the day after a fight inside an Oklahoma high school restroom has been ruled a suicide, the Oklahoma medical examiner’s office said Wednesday.
A summary autopsy report shows 16-year-old Nex Benedict, who is of Choctaw descent and who used they/them pronouns, had toxic levels of two drugs in their system and died of an overdose.
A complete autopsy will be released in 10 days in accordance with state law, the medical examiner’s office said.
Related stories:
—Student’s death after attack elicits calls for accountability
—‘My child is not filth’
—Peggy Flanagan: ‘The system failed Nex Benedict’
“From the beginning of this investigation, Owasso Police observed many indications that this death was the result of suicide,” Owasso Police Lt. Nick Boatman said in a statement. “However, investigators did not wish to confirm that information without the final results being presented by the Oklahoma Medical Examiners Office.”
Boatman would not say whether police found a note from Nex at the scene.
Nex was conscious and alert after the fight on Feb. 7 when telling police about the attack by three girls that occurred after the teen squirted them with water, according to police video released last month.
Nex’s grandmother and legal guardian called police to come to the hospital after the teen was attacked at school in the Tulsa suburb of Owasso. Nex died the next day after their mother called emergency responders to their home, saying Nex’s breathing was shallow, their eyes were rolling back and their hands were curled, according to audio also released by Owasso police.
In the video from the hospital the day of the altercation, Nex explains to an officer that the girls had been picking on them and their friends because of the way they dressed. Nex said that in the bathroom, the girls said: “Something like, ‘Why do they laugh like that,” referring to Nex and their friends.
“And so I went up there and I poured water on them, and then all three of them came at me,” Nex told the officer while reclining in a hospital bed.
“They came at me. They grabbed on my hair. I grabbed onto them. I threw one of them into a paper towel dispenser and then they got my legs out from under me and got me on the ground,” Nex said in the video, adding that the girls then started beating Nex and they blacked out.
In the 911 call on Feb. 8, Nex’s mother, Sue Benedict, expressed concern about a head injury as she described Nex’s symptoms.
“I hope this ain’t from her head. They were supposed to have checked her out good,” said Benedict, who remained calm during the call and said she had been to nursing school. Benedict said in a statement on a GoFundMe page set up to help cover funeral expenses that the family was still learning to use the teen’s preferred name and pronouns.
Paramedics responding to the family’s house performed CPR and rushed Nex to the hospital, where they later died.
Family members have said Benedict was nonbinary, which means they didn’t identify as strictly male or female.
“Bullying and harassment have a significant impact on students and, tragically, many of these youths believe that suicide is the only option for peace,” said Brandon Dilawari, a case manager at Rainbow Youth Project USA, an Indiana-based group that aims to improve the safety and wellness of LGBTQ+ young people. “This is not an isolated incident by any means.”
The group reported a dramatic spike in calls from Oklahoma to its national crisis hotline after news of the teen’s death became public.
Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute $5 or $10 today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT’s free newsletter.