Nationwide — Isabella “Izzy” Faith Tichenor, a 10-year old Black girl from Salt Lake City, Utah, was found dead after hanging herself. Her grieving family said she had been bullied at school for months before her death.Izzy, who went to Foxboro Elementary School in North Salt Lake, told her family about her being “belittled and bullied” for several months over her autism and race.
“As any parent would, we reported this abuse to her teachers, the school administration, and the district administration,” her mother Brittany Tichenor-Cox told KUTV. “Nothing. Nothing was done to protect Izzy. Children did not have their behavior corrected so the torment of this child continued day after day.”
Still, Izzy’s mother Brittany Tichenor-Cox said she was shocked for there wasn’t any sign or warning that Izzy was contemplating taking her own life. Izzy even told her she loved her the last time they spoke.
“I didn’t know she thought like that, I was so involved with her at school,” she said. “You don’t know what a child is going through mentally.”
Meanwhile, the Davis School District expressed their sympathy to the family and said that they will continue to investigate all allegations of bullying.
Moreover, a GoFundMe page has been set up to help her devastated family with her funeral expenses “to provide Izzy with the most beautiful celebration of life.” It has so far raised over $68,000.