An 11-year-old girl in Texas committed suicide earlier this month after enduring months of bullying about her family’s immigration status, according to her mother.
Jocelynn Rojo Carranza died on February 3 after injuring herself at her home in Gainesville, a small city just south of the Oklahoma border.
According to a GoFundMe set up by her father while she was still alive, the girl’s condition appeared to wax and wane for a while as doctors changed her regimen at an intensive care unit in a Dallas hospital. But Jocelynn died slowly over the next few days, succumbing to her injuries on February 8.
“This helplessness hurts my soul, and it is not easy for me or any of her relatives who were present in her life as a child, and knowing that she is no longer with us breaks my heart into pieces,” Ernesto Alonso Rojo said in a series of updates to the fundraiser after his daughter died.
“Although my heart and my soul are dying, at this moment I have to continue for myself and my other little cherubs.”
The girl’s aunt also started a separate GoFundMe campaign.
According to comments made by her mother, Marbella Carranza, to Univision, the girl died as a result of months of relentless taunting by her sixth-grade classmates at Gainesville Intermediate School, a fifth and sixth-grade school located approximately 70 miles north of Dallas.
The bullying was motivated by the girl’s Hispanic ethnicity, and it culminated in threats from other students that they would report her parents to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to her mother.
According to her mother, Jocelynn attended counselling once or twice a week near the end of her life as a result of bullying.
During the bullying, other students mocked the girl, saying she would have to live alone after her parents were deported, according to her mother.
“I waited a whole week for a miracle that my daughter would be well, but unfortunately nothing could be done,” the distraught mother recounted. “My daughter will always live for me, and I will always love her.”
Now, the girl’s family wants a thorough investigation into the cruel circumstances that led to Jocelynn’s premature death.
“This incident is still being actively investigated, so I am unable to comment on the investigation at this time,” said a Gainesville Police Department spokesperson.
The police department also stated that the “bullying allegations” were being investigated by the Gainesville Independent School District Police Department.
Law&Crime contacted ISD’s police department for more information on this story, but received no response by the time of publication.
Jocelynn’s death was acknowledged by the school district in a Valentine’s Day letter sent to “GISD families”.
“It is with great sadness that we inform you of a loss to our school community,” according to the letter. “A Gainesville Intermediate student died this week. Our hearts go out to the student’s family during this difficult time.”
The school district’s letter continued:
This loss is sure to raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our entire school, especially our students. As a family, you know your child best, and we recommend that you talk about this news together. You may want to explain how your family understands and copes with loss, as well as how your student can be a supportive friend to classmates. The most important thing students need at this time is an opportunity to be heard and to express their feelings.
Law&Crime contacted Gainesville ISD for additional comment on this story. The school district responded with a statement outlining its anti-bullying policies.
The statement reads in full:
The top priority of the Gainesville ISD is to ensure a safe and comfortable learning environment for all students. Because of this, we take any reports of bullying at our schools very seriously and have a zero-tolerance policy.
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.
These policies provide opportunities to report such behavior. If a report arises, the District immediately takes all steps necessary to respond appropriately. We have been, and will continue to be proactive in our efforts to make sure our schools are safe, secure, and free from harassment.
Jocelynn’s mother spoke with Univision about the school’s response to the bullying.
“It looks like the school was aware of it, but they never let me know the news,” she told me.
