HIGHLAND PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Students, parents and community members gathered in Highland Park on Thursday night to demand action following the death of a 17-year-old student at Benjamin Franklin High School.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled the teen’s death a suicide, but many students and parents have expressed concern that bullying may have played a role.
The student, identified by the medical examiner as Xavier Nungaray-Martinez, died Sept. 30 after falling from a fourth-floor balcony at the school. According to the medical examiner’s report, the 17-year-old died from multiple blunt traumatic injuries to the head and torso.
A classmate who said he was with Nungaray-Martinez moments before the incident said the teen fell after fighting with another student. Nungaray-Martinez’s family has said he was being bullied.
During Thursday’s demonstration, students and parents arrived at the school and chanted “we want justice” while calling for an end to bullying. Some parents said they want increased campus supervision and more school resource officers.
“They need to have more security everywhere, in every single spot possible to prevent things like this because it could have been prevented in so many ways,” one parent told Eyewitness News.
Students and parents also gathered around a memorial for Nungaray-Martinez, leaving candles and flowers in his honor. Family members who remained at the campus throughout the night said school officials had asked them to remove the memorial by Friday.
A Highland Park resident who identified herself as Joana was among a few hundred people who showed up at the campus Thursday as Los Angeles Unified members met with school leaders, including the principal and parents of students.
Police officers were at the campus to manage the crowd. The crowd continued chanting as some officials left through a back entrance.
The Los Angeles Police Department said detectives are reviewing allegations that bullying may have contributed to the student’s death.
“At this preliminary stage of the investigation, detectives have not identified evidence establishing a connection between allegations of bullying and the student’s death,” the LAPD said in a statement. “However, the investigation remains active and ongoing, and this preliminary assessment should not be interpreted as a final determination of the circumstances surrounding his death.”
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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