10-Year-Old Autistic Girl Dies By Suicide Following Bullying For Being Black

A 10-year-old girl in Utah took her own life after she was bullied by her classmates for being Black and autistic, her mother said Monday — over two weeks after the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that the child's school district failed to protect non-white students from racial harassment.

Isabella Faith Tichenor was found dead in her family home Saturday following an apparent suicide, local newspaper Standard-Examiner reported.

Tichenor, who was a fifth-grader at Foxboro Elementary School (FES) in North Salt Lake, Utah, was bullied and abused by her classmates for being Black and autistic, her mother, Brittany Tichenor, was cited as saying by The Salt Lake Tribune.

Several kids allegedly threatened Isabella and told her she smelled bad because of her skin color, which prompted her to bring a bottle of air freshener to school to wear as perfume.

A teacher was also unsympathetic and joined in mocking her daughter, the mother claimed.

Brittany said she repeatedly spoke to teachers as well as administrators of the school and the Davis School District regarding the alleged abuses, but she claimed that "nobody has done anything."

"This proves (school personnel) don't know what a child is going through mentally, and a parent has to find their child hanging from a closet," Brittany said during an informal news conference at a North Salt Lake Park.

"Even though my baby is gone, I’m going to make sure that I stand for Izzy and for voices that can’t be heard, so that this will never happen again," the mother said.

It was unclear if Brittany plans to pursue any legal action over her daughter's death.

The allegations of abuse toward Isabella came after the DOJ announced a settlement with the Davis School District on Oct. 21 that addressed patterns of discrimination and harassment by students as well as staff toward Black and Asian-American students — each of whom accounts for around 1% of the district's 73,000 students.

Brittany said that her 7-year-old daughter, who is also a student of FES, "was called the n-word" in September and that the school's response was unsatisfactory.

"The biggest issue is that the district just hasn’t addressed anything, racist incidents and bullying. They just don’t respond to it," said Kathleen Christy, a retired administrator with Salt Lake City School District and now a leader of the Utah Ethnic Studies Coalition.

The school district later released a statement following Isabella's death.

"We, like everyone, are devastated by the death of this child. Our hearts go out to the family. Foxboro Elementary has worked extensively with the family and will continue to provide help to them and others impacted by this tragedy. We take all incidents and reports of bullying seriously. At this point, the incident we are aware of involved another student. The teacher and administration responded quickly and appropriately. As with all allegations of bullying, our investigation will continue," the school district's spokesperson, Shauna Lund, said in the statement.

No one from the district has reached out to Brittany since her daughter's death, the mother claimed.

A GoFundMe page "to provide [Isabella] with the most beautiful celebration of life" has raised nearly $47,000 of its $50,000 goal.

If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours, every day.