Nex Benedict, the 16-year-old Owasso High School student whose death has sparked outrage across the nation, killed himself, according to the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
A summary report identified the cause of death as combined toxicity from diphenhydramine and fluoxetine.
Friends and family said Benedict used the pronouns he and him as well as they and them. Relatives of the 10th grader said he had been bullied because of his gender identity. On February 7, Benedict was involved in a fight with three older girls. The high school student told officers and medical personnel that he blacked out during the fight and released footage from the school's hallways also shows him swaying slightly while walking toward the administration offices. A day after the fight, Benedict collapsed and was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
His death has drawn national attention as activists and transgender students have blamed the state's antagonistic policies around transgender students for the tragedy.
The Ministry of Education has launched an investigation into the Oklahoma teenager's death, which came after Human Rights Campaign (HRC) President Kelley Robinson sent letters to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Attorney General Merrick Garland, calling on their respective agencies to open investigations into the circumstances of Benedict's death.
After the tragedy, Owasso High School staged a walkout, with 40 students leaving class to protest his death — and the bullying policies that students believe led to Benedict's death. NBC News mentionted. “There were issues of bullying. This time, the bullying has gone so far that a student has passed,” Kane, a walkout organizer, told NBC News. “To me, it doesn't matter if Nex went through a traumatic brain injury or if he went through suicide. What matters is the fact that they died after being bullied, and that is the story for so many other students. I almost ended it myself due to bullying. It's not new to so many students.”
Call 988 in the US to reach National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The Trevor Project, which provides suicide prevention help and resources for LGBTQ youth, is 1-866-488-7386. Find other international suicide helplines at Befrienders Worldwide (befrienders.org).
This is an evolving story…
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/nex-benedict-died-suicide-medical-examiner-1234987178/
