'Bullycide' Killed 10-Year-Old Aurora Girl: Parents

AURORA, CO -- A ten year old Aurora girl died Wednesday after what her parents said was a suicide caused by online bullying. Ashawnty Davis, a student at Sunrise Elementary, hanged herself two weeks ago, after peers posted an online video of the child fighting with another child on the school grounds. Ashawnty had been on life-support for two weeks, KDVR reported.

Parents Anthony Davis and Latoshia Harris said their daughter was devastated after video of an October fight was posted on the online app Musical.ly and she couldn't bear the taunting she received from other children.

"We watched our daughter's life slip through our fingers, through our hands," Anthony Davis told Fox31 news. “[Ashawnty] was devastated when she found out that it had made it to Musical.ly,” Davis said.

Ashawnty's parents asked news outlets to broadcast the video to bring awareness to online bullying and its devastating effects on children.

“My daughter came home two weeks later and hanged herself in the closet,” Harris told the news station.
Ashawnty was treated at Children’s Hospital Colorado on life support but died Wednesday, parents said.

Harris said Ahsawnty's death was a case of "bullycide" where a person commits suicide after being bullied.

“We have to stop it and we have to stop it within our kids,” Davis said on the news report.

After Ashawnty's death, other parents approached KDVR about bullying at Sunrise Elementary. Parent Sara Franklyn said she told the school and the police about a beating her son received after school on the playground last year.

“He had been punched in the stomach, kicked in the head, had gravel embedded in his legs,” Franklyn said.
“Nothing was ever done," Franklyn said. “My biggest issue is that more was not done after I reported to the principal and vice principal of the school."

Cherry Creek School District issued a statement after the incident, saying the district condemns bullying and works to stop it:

“This is a heartbreaking loss for the school community. Mental health supports will be made available for any students who need help processing the loss.
"We do not tolerate bullying of any kind in our schools and we have a comprehensive bullying prevention program in place at all of our schools. The safety and wellbeing of students is our highest priority and we strive every today to ensure schools are safe, welcoming and supportive places that support learning.
"We were made aware of [the Ashawnty Davis fighting] video when a media outlet approached us with it. We took immediate action in response, turning the video over to police and addressing the matter with students. "It should also be noted that the video did not take place during school hours.”

“My child was supposed to be protected at school and for me not to have no protection there it just makes me feel unsafe about my other children and the other children that are there,” Harris said in an interview Nov. 30. “With the last breath in my life I’m going to make sure that the unfortunate kids are able to go to school comfortably and learn,” Davis said.

Image via YouTube.