A 16-year-old girl has died after her mother said she suffered severe injuries from a school fight. She claims school officials failed to stop the bullies from targeting the girl.
Cell phone video captured a violent altercation between two teen girls in a bathroom at Manual Arts High School in South Los Angeles.
The victim, Shaylee Mejia, is seen hitting her head against a stall as she falls down at one point.
The girl’s mother, Maria Juarez, is devastated and believes her daughter died as a result of that bathroom fight.
Mejia enrolled at Manual Arts High about eight months ago after Juarez, a single mother of two, moved the family into a new apartment.
After several months at the school, she said Mejia began coming home with bruises all over her body, presumably from fights.
She took photos of the injuries and reportedly complained to school officials and campus police but said nothing was done to address the issue.
Meanwhile, her daughter continued being targeted by bullies at school, with several of the fights captured on cell phone video by the teen’s friends.
On March 5, Juarez said her daughter was involved in a school fight but did not notify her because she didn’t want to cause worry. Juarez is a housekeeper and the family’s sole provider so Mejia didn’t want her mother to lose any work hours.
Juarez said her daughter complained of a headache for several days but continued to attend school.
Later that week, she went to a party on Saturday night and that was the last time Juarez would see her daughter alive.
She was told her daughter had fainted at the party and was rushed to the hospital by a friend. Doctors said she suffered from a fatal hemorrhage due to brain injuries.
Mejia never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead six days later on March 15.
After her daughter’s death, that’s when Juarez was first notified about the violent March 5 fight.
She presented videos of the fights to school officials but claimed nothing was done to the perpetrators. She now blames the school for her daughter’s death.
“Everybody knows about my daughter hitting her head, the teachers too,” Juarez said. “Everybody knows.”
As Juarez struggles to process the pain of her daughter’s death, she said her 3-year-old son is completely devastated.
“He’s sad,” Juarez said on the verge of tears. “He misses his sister. “I just, I don’t know. I want to die.”
Los Angeles police confirm officers were called to the hospital the night Mejia was admitted. The cause of her death remains under investigation. Detectives are investigating claims that she may have fallen down a flight of stairs that night.
A statement from the high school’s principal, Alejandro Macias, said in part:
“I am saddened to report the recent death of one of our students off campus. On behalf of our entire school community, I want to offer my deepest condolences to those who are impacted by this loss, including the student’s family, friends, and teachers. At this time, we request that the privacy of those who have been impacted be respected during this difficult time. Please know that our entire school community offers our support.
Every member of the Manual Arts High School community matters and this loss impacts us all. Our school has crisis counselors available to any student who may need support. While this tragic incident took place outside of school hours and off campus, our heartfelt thoughts remain with those affected by this loss.”
A GoFundMe page to help Juarez with her daughter’s funeral expenses can be found here.