Nex Benedict: What we know about death of Oklahoma teenager

The loss of life of teenager Nex Benedict a day after a battle in an Oklahoma faculty rest room has drawn nationwide consideration as vigils happen across the US.

A police investigation into the loss of life of the 16-year-old, who was non-binary and used they/them pronouns, continues.

The reason for loss of life is but to be formally decided and precisely what occurred within the rest room stays unclear.

Here’s what we all know at this stage.

Nex Benedict was concerned in what authorities known as a “bodily altercation” in a rest room at Owasso Excessive College on 7 February.

This was damaged up by different college students who have been current, aided by a member of college workers, police and the college stated. The varsity stated the scholars have been within the rest room for lower than two minutes.

Safety footage confirmed Benedict was capable of stroll across the constructing after the battle. The varsity determined no ambulance was wanted, officers stated, however its nurse really useful that Benedict endure additional medical checks “out of an abundance of warning”.

Benedict’s mom, Sue, known as police to the hospital that very same day and expressed frustration that the college had not alerted officers to the incident.

In bodycam footage launched by police of that interplay on the hospital, Nex Benedict is seen awake and alert, reclining on a mattress with arms folded and giving an account of what occurred.

The coed stated three women had picked on them and their group “due to the best way that we costume”.

The mockery is alleged to have continued in the bathroom – with the attackers allegedly asking “why do they chortle like that?”. Benedict responded by throwing water on the ladies, in response to the account supplied to police.

“All three of them got here at me” afterwards, {the teenager} recalled. A battle ensued and Benedict stated they have been crushed on the bottom earlier than they “blacked out”.

The varsity district stated the loss of life of a scholar was “devastating”, and stated it was dedicated to a “protected and inclusive surroundings for all college students”.

It stated it was co-operating with the investigation amid “hypothesis and misinformation surrounding the case”.

This stays unclear. The police assertion stated medics have been despatched to “a medical emergency” at Benedict’s house the day after the battle, on 8 February.

In an emergency name – the audio of which was additionally launched by police – Sue Benedict stated her kid’s respiration was shallow and their eyes have been rolling again.

“I hope this ain’t from her head,” she stated. “They have been alleged to have checked her out good.” She later stated in an internet submit that she had nonetheless been getting used to utilizing Benedict’s most well-liked they/them pronouns.

Paramedics carried out CPR earlier than dashing Benedict to hospital – the place {the teenager} died.

In a statement released to NBC News, a lawyer representing the Benedict household drew consideration to what they described as “the devastating results of bullying and faculty violence”.

They known as the loss of life a “preventable tragedy”, including: “The Benedict Household calls on all faculty, native, state and nationwide officers to hitch forces to find out why this occurred, to carry these accountable to account and to make sure it by no means occurs once more.”

The most recent police assertion says preliminary post-mortem info signifies that {the teenager} “didn’t die on account of trauma”.

Owasso police stated they’d not remark additional till the outcomes of toxicology and different take a look at outcomes have been obtained. An official post-mortem report has been promised at a later date.

The varsity has not confirmed if Benedict was bullied for his or her gender id however stated in a press release to ABC Information that “bullying in any type is unacceptable”.

It added: “We take reviews of bullying very significantly and have insurance policies and procedures in place to deal with such behaviour.”

Benedict has been mourned across the nation. Two vigils have been held in Oklahoma on Friday evening, with greater than a dozen scheduled in cities throughout the US on Monday.

An internet fundraiser that was launched to cowl funeral prices has raised greater than $150,000 (£118,000). A message of thanks from Sue Benedict stated she had not been anticipating “the love from everybody”.

White Home press secretary Karen Jean-Pierre known as Benedict’s loss of life “a tragedy”, including: “Each child ought to really feel protected and may really feel protected once they go to high school.”

Advocacy group Freedom Oklahoma stated the info of the incident have been nonetheless being established, however that members of the LGBT neighborhood had been receiving elevated hostility “fuelled by state regulation and the rhetoric round it, phrases and actions of our state elected officers”.

Campaigners have criticised legal guidelines in Oklahoma which ban college students from utilizing faculty bogs and altering rooms that don’t align with their intercourse at beginning.

Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s public faculty superintendent, advised the New York Occasions that Benedict’s loss of life was a tragedy, however restated his view of gender id: “There’s not a number of genders. There’s two. That is how God created us.”

Calls from the state to Rainbow Youth Challenge USA – a disaster hotline for younger LGBT folks – have spiked by greater than 500%, its director advised the AP information company.