Bullied Teen's 'Beauty And The Beast' Funeral Rich In Symbolism

WHITTIER, CA — The symbolism at Rosalie Avila’s memorial service Wednesday was inescapable. The 13-year-old Yucaipa middle schooler who hanged herself last month apologized in a goodbye note to her family for “being ugly” — something the bullies at her school had drilled into her head over and over and over. Her family dressed her as Belle, the "Beauty" in “Beauty and the Beast.”

Rosalie’s “Beast” was a collective of children at her at Mesa View Middle School who were relentless in their torment. In one of her goodbye notes, Rosalie had asked her parents not to display pictures at her funeral at the Rose Hills Memorial Park’s SkyRose Chapel in Whittier. On that, Freddie and Charlene Avila couldn’t honor her last wishes.

Giant photos of their precious girl flanked the silver and white casket where she lay, wearing a yellow gown and crown. Photos of her from infancy through adolescence played on a continuous loop on a large screen. Classmates wore T-shirts with her picture, altered to include a halo over her head, screen-printed on the front.

On the back was a message that came too late to help Rosalie, but may help other kids subjected to a seemingly endless stream of vitriol and viciousness: “Stop Bullying," it read.

About 20 classmates spoke kind words that contradicted the mean things that had been said about her, the Press-Enterprise newspaper reported. They called her an angel. They said she was beautiful. They remembered her kind and generous spirit.

“Today, our hearts are broken for a little girl whose spirit was crushed,” Pastor Richard Brown of Life Church in Monrovia said to about 300 mourners who attended her funeral. “Healing can come with the right words. Harsh words — abusive words — can crush a human spirit.”

Rosalie Avila hanged herself in her bedroom Nov. 28. She was taken off life support Dec. 4 and her organs were harvested. She would have liked that her death would extend the lives of others, her father told Patch earlier this month.

What Rosalie endured went beyond bullies saying she was ugly, though they said that plenty — even posting a video of her alone that labeled her as the “ugly girl.” They made fun of almost everything about her — her clothes, her shoes and her teeth, which were being straightened by braces. They attacked her character, calling her a whore and saying she had herpes.

“They said she was poor, and she needed to kill herself. They said she was ugly,” Freddie Avila said. “What a horrible thing to say: You're ugly, kill yourself."

See Also: 13-Year-Old Hangs Herself, But Bullies Killed Her

They said it so often that Rosalie believed it, her dad said. No matter what he said — that it wasn't true, that she was beautiful and loved and precious — she believed the opposite, he said.

The Avilas said Monday they plan to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District because they think officials did too little to protect Rosalie and other students from a culture of bullying that many experts say is epidemic.

"We so disappointed and angry at how the school has handled things ya know, with the kids." Rosalie's father told CBS News. "The way it happened to her, the way it happened to so many other kids… now is the time to act, now."

Charlene Avila vowed to “make a difference in her name.”

"I brought her into this life and all I can think is someone ripping her from my arms, just taking her, that's how I feel, like they took her from me," she said.

The family’s attorney, Brian Claypool, told CBS the Avilas also are pushing for legislation that would require schools to maintain written reports of bullying claims and hold bullies accountable if the behavior continues.

"The fact that this little girl would be so verbally abused at a school to a point where she writes a suicide note to her parents saying she doesn't even feel worthy of a picture at her funeral speaks volumes," Claypool said.

School officials did not immediately respond to Patch’s request for comment, but said in a Dec. 1 statement that they are “saddened” by Rosalie’s death and that “the District Board of Education, its administration, and staff are all united in care and concern for those affected by this tragedy.”

School officials said they are working with detectives to investigate Rosalie’s death. “This issue requires all of to work together, to watch for signs and intervene when we see problems,” the district’s superintendent said in a statement reported by CBS Los Angeles.

Freddie Avila told People magazine the weeks since his daughter’s untimely death have been “the worst roller coaster ride of my life.”

“I feel just heartbroken. All the things I’ve ever wanted for her are gone,” Charlene Avila added. “I’m never gonna see her graduate high school. I’m never gonna see her ever get married or have children. I’m never gonna celebrate her birthdays. Christmas is in a few days and I’m not gonna have my daughter with us for Christmas. I’ll never ever be the same, but I will remain strong for my other children.”

Photo courtesy of the Avila family