A Davis family is upset after their son came home and told them another student brought cookies to school baked with her grandfather’s ashes and passed them around, and the incident has prompted a police investigation.
He told them two weeks ago another Da Vinci Charter Academy High School student brought cookies to school baked with human ashes and was passing them around.
“This girl is going around telling everyone, basically at this point, that she had brought in these cookies to school with human ashes in them,” said the Da Vinci Charter Academy High School student who spoke to KTLA sister station in Sacramento on Monday.
Police confirmed that the boy’s story was not just a wild rumor and after investigating they believe the story is credible.
“Based on the overall circumstances we think it’s credible. Can we confirm it 100 percent? I don’t think we can say that. We feel it is a credible statement that that happened,” said Davis Police Lt. Paul Doroshov.
Doroshov later confirmed Tuesday the sugar cookies allegedly contained the student’s grandfather’s ashes.
One student baked the sugar cookies using the ashes while the other passed them out, according to Lt. Dorshov.
Davis police say they know of nine students who ate the cookies, some who knew what was alleged to be in them and others who didn’t.
The boy’s family agreed to speak on the condition that their identities be hidden for fear of repercussion from the Davis Joint Unified School District.
“It blew my mind. I was really repulsed, and I was upset that I wasn’t even notified,” the boy’s mother said.
What the boy’s parents were most upset about, however, was the way they say the school handled the incident.
The student’s mother says school administrators questioned her son, fearing he may have eaten one of the cookies. Her son says after being questioned he was asked to submit a statement about what happened and sign it.
“After that he told me not to tell anyone,” the boy said.
That student’s mother says she met with the school’s principal and demanded a copy of the statement her son was asked to sign.
“The district seems to be a little bit more concerned about protecting themselves than protecting their students,” his father said.
Since the incident, the family says nothing has been sent to parents about it.
Both the principal and the district declined interview requests, though the district did send the following statement to KTXL on Monday:
“While we cannot comment on confidential student matters, I can tell you that the physical and social-emotional safety of our students is our first priority.
We take all allegations of wrongdoing seriously and we conduct thorough investigations and involve the police when appropriate. When wrongdoing is found to have occurred, disciplinary measures are applied and at the same time measures are taken to repair the harm within the community.
This case has been particularly challenging and we have responded appropriately and in the most respectful and dignified way possible.”
Davis police said they do not know if the incident could be called a crime. There are some obscure crimes in the state code about the disposal of human remains but Davis police say this may not fit any of those.
Correction: An earlier version stated the ashes were those of the child’s grandmother; this post has been updated with the latest information.