Prosecutors revealed on Thursday that they would not be pursuing criminal charges in the case of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary teenager from Oklahoma who tragically passed away a day after an altercation at school, which may have been linked to bullying due to Benedict's gender identity.
According to the Oklahoma medical examiner's report on March 13, Benedict's cause of death was determined to be suicide from ingesting antidepressants and antihistamines, with nonlethal wounds from the earlier fight found on Benedict's nose and mouth.
The death of 16-year-old Benedict has sparked concern among LGBTQ advocates, who suspect that school officials may have disregarded signs of abuse, leading to a civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Education to determine if any laws were violated or if the school district failed to address harassment adequately.
Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler acknowledged Benedict's death as a tragedy but stated that the behavior of the juveniles involved in the restroom fight did not meet the standard for prosecutable crime.
"I am in agreement with their (police) assessment that the filing of juvenile charges is not warranted. From all the evidence gathered, this fight was an instance of mutual combat," Kunzweiler said.
Benedict, who was assigned female at birth, preferred they/them pronouns with some individuals and he/him pronouns with close friends, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group.
Following the suicide ruling, the Human Rights Campaign reiterated its call for a thorough investigation, citing the link between bullying, harassment, and the elevated suicide rates among LGBTQ youth.
Friends and family of Benedict reported that they had been experiencing harassment for several months.
Kunzweiler noted that Benedict left brief notes that appeared to be related to the suicide and described the fight as "involving two groups of students" and lasting less than a minute after Benedict poured water over two girls.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler)