An 11-year-old Texas schoolgirl died by suicide after being repeatedly bullied by classmates over her family’s immigration status, her mother has alleged.
Jocelynn Rojo Carranza died on February 8, five days after her mother, Marbella Carranza, found her unresponsive at their home in Gainesville.
The matter is under investigation after her mother, a single parent, claimed that her daughter was mistreated by other students who insulted her saying her family was illegally staying in the US.
Speaking with CNN affiliate KUVN, Marbella Carranza said, “All week I’ve been waiting for a miracle – waiting for my daughter to get better. But unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done.”
Jocelynn Carranza attended Gainesville Intermediate School and was bullied and taunted over their immigration status. “They were going to call immigration so they could take her parents away and she would be left alone,” Ms Carranza said.
The mother is now working with investigators to determine the cause of the death but added that there was “nothing concrete” yet. She added she had no prior indicators that her daughter was being bullied in the school.
“I never knew anything about that. My daughter never showed changes. I mean, there was never anything that gave me a sign that she was suffering from bullying,” Ms Carranza told CNN. The mother believed the school was aware of the alleged bullying but did not notify her. She mentioned that her daughter was undergoing counselling at school when investigators informed her.
“It appears the school was aware of it all, but they never, they never told me what was happening with my daughter. It appears she would go once or twice a week to counselling to report what was happening,” she added.
Ms Carranza said that she wanted justice “because it’s not fair – the school was negligent for not keeping me informed of what was going on with my daughter.”
The Gainesville Independent School District did not acknowledge whether or not it was aware of reports of bullying.
“Whenever we receive a report of bullying, we respond swiftly to ensure all students are safe physically and emotionally. While we cannot release any information about specific students or incidents, our schools have several policies in place to combat bullying and resolve conflicts,” the district mentioned in a statement.
Jocelynn Carranza’s funeral took place Wednesday morning at the St Mary Catholic Church where hundreds of friends and family members were in attendance.