Parents from Nashville said their young daughter committed suicide after cheerleaders and football players at her school mercilessly bullied her.
12-year-old Tarhiya Sledge took her own life at their home, sparking an internal investigation by Metro Nashville Public Schools and a police investigation.
Her parents are also planning on filing a discrimination lawsuit against the school, claiming that the administrations had failed to protect their child from bullies even though they had already been made aware of the issues.
The family’s attorney, Roland Mumford, told WKRN it has been alleged that a student threw a trash can at Tarhiya. In another incident, another student had pulled her hair so hard that many strands had been removed.
“The mother put the JFK middle school on notice in writing, email, and in-person countless times in the last 90 days and they failed to take action,” said Mumford.
MiKesha Glover, her mother, was forced to pull the 12-year-old out of her classes after allegedly failing to get protection for her at school.
In addition, Mumford said he has six names of students suspected of mercilessly bullying Tarhiya, among them are cheerleaders and football players.
“I can’t breathe, I can’t sleep, my body is aching even thinking about the torture my baby had to endure at the hands of bullies,” Tarhiya’s mother wrote.
District spokesman Sean Braisted said in a statement to Fox 17: “We were saddened to learn of the death of a student within the MNPS family. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the student. Support teams were deployed to schools affected to help students and faculty impacted by this tragic death.”
According to Tarhiya’s family, she already attempted to take her own life once before but managed to survive.
“She just wanted to be accepted by everyone,” Mario Glover, her stepfather, said. “The ones who hurt her the most was [sic] the main ones she was calling friends.”
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Replaced!