Bullied Autistic 10-Year-Old Kills Self After School Ignored Mom's Complaints: Report

Isabella Tichenor, the 10-year-old Black and autistic girl from Utah who died by suicide late last year, had been a victim of bullying prior to her death, but there was no "direct evidence" it was on the basis of race or her disability, an independent investigation concluded.

The Foxboro Elementary School student died on Nov. 6, 2021, just two weeks after the Department of Justice said that there was "widespread racial harassment" in the Davis School District, which includes the girl's school.

While Tichenor was not "expressly" bullied for being Black or autistic, an investigative report commissioned by the school district said that her classmates and teachers had made comments about her hygiene before her death, according to CNN.

A classmate had told Tichenor that she smelled and needed to wash her hair, the girl's mother Brittany Tichenor-Cox claimed.

In another incident, a special education teacher told Tichenor she smelled and asked the child if she had taken a shower, the investigation conducted by law firm Parsons, Behle & Latimer discovered.

Tichenor allegedly started spraying Febreze odor eliminator on herself before going to school when a teacher told the class that they "smelled," the investigation's 16-page report said.

Despite the findings, the three-man investigation team said they found no "direct evidence" that Tichenor had been bullied on the basis of her race or disability.

"When a student told Izzy she needed to wash her hair, this comment could have been borne out of racial animus, could have been an innocuous observation, or could have been a cloaked insult about poverty," the report said.

Investigators also noted that "issues relating to race, disability and poverty sometimes intersect, and when they do, can further complicate already challenging situations. It can be very difficult to extricate one from the others."

However, the investigation was able to determine that Foxboro Elementary School failed to protect Tichenor by dismissing and not investigating allegations made by her mother that she was being bullied in a timely manner, according to CNN.

Educators, administrators and staff interviewed during the investigation "did not demonstrate actual knowledge of the district's definition of 'bullying'" and failed to document or record reports of bullying, staff interventions and/or communications with the Tichenor family, the report claimed.

The report recommended that the Davis School District train its staff on how to identify and address bullying, provide diversity and equity sessions as well as offer "trauma-informed, poverty training."

Foxboro Elementary School should also establish clear protocols for record-keeping and reporting of bullying, the report said.

The investigative team attempted to speak to Tichenor's mother, but her legal representatives barred her because of a possible lawsuit against the district, according to KSL 5.

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.