This is why I'm not a fan of black children going to schools that are predominantly white. I couldn't even imagine raising my kids in Utah of all places.
Izzy Tichenor: 10-year-old Black Utah student dies by suicide weeks after DOJ report - CNN
Isabella "Izzy" Tichenor, a 10-year-old Black and autistic student in Utah, died by suicide last Saturday after allegedly being bullied by classmates and her family's complaints were ignored, the family's lawyer tells CNN.
The tragedy comes just weeks after the Justice Department publicly detailed a disturbing pattern where Black and Asian American students at the Davis School District in Farmington, Utah, were harassed for years, and officials deliberately ignored complaints from parents and students. The DOJ detailed the pattern in a report and settlement agreement released in October. The agency had been investigating the school district since July 2019.
"Izzy was a happy child. She was a happy little girl, she did well in school ... All she wanted was to be connected with family and friends," attorney Tyler Ayres tells CNN ahead of the private funeral planned for Saturday morning.
Izzy's mother and stepfather, Brittany Clark Tichenor Cox and Charles Cox, said they became aware their daughter was being bullied around September, Ayres told CNN.
"They found her taking a bottle of Febreze to school, and when they asked her why they said she said because the kids said she stank," Ayres told CNN, adding her teacher instructed her to sit away from other students in the back of the classroom.
Ayres also said the kids allegedly used the n-word and teased Izzy repeatedly.
According to Ayres, Brittany and Charles sought out Izzy's teacher to lodge their complaints, but "when they realized that they weren't making any progress ... they went to the principal. The principal turned them to the vice principal and with the vice principal they felt very unheard and just very disregarded."
Izzy Tichenor: 10-year-old Black Utah student dies by suicide weeks after DOJ report - CNN
Isabella "Izzy" Tichenor, a 10-year-old Black and autistic student in Utah, died by suicide last Saturday after allegedly being bullied by classmates and her family's complaints were ignored, the family's lawyer tells CNN.
The tragedy comes just weeks after the Justice Department publicly detailed a disturbing pattern where Black and Asian American students at the Davis School District in Farmington, Utah, were harassed for years, and officials deliberately ignored complaints from parents and students. The DOJ detailed the pattern in a report and settlement agreement released in October. The agency had been investigating the school district since July 2019.
"Izzy was a happy child. She was a happy little girl, she did well in school ... All she wanted was to be connected with family and friends," attorney Tyler Ayres tells CNN ahead of the private funeral planned for Saturday morning.
Izzy's mother and stepfather, Brittany Clark Tichenor Cox and Charles Cox, said they became aware their daughter was being bullied around September, Ayres told CNN.
"They found her taking a bottle of Febreze to school, and when they asked her why they said she said because the kids said she stank," Ayres told CNN, adding her teacher instructed her to sit away from other students in the back of the classroom.
Ayres also said the kids allegedly used the n-word and teased Izzy repeatedly.
According to Ayres, Brittany and Charles sought out Izzy's teacher to lodge their complaints, but "when they realized that they weren't making any progress ... they went to the principal. The principal turned them to the vice principal and with the vice principal they felt very unheard and just very disregarded."