[Fox News] Mom of teen who died by suicide says her bullies played ‘a part in crushing her’
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
The devastated mother of 14-year-old Kansas teen Jaylee Chillson, who fatally shot herself in front of a deputy earlier this month, said she’s enraged at her daughter’s bullies.
“I’m angry with those that hurt my baby,” Stacie Chillson recently wrote on Facebook. “I’m furious with those I KNOW hurt her and will talk about her now like they didn’t play a part in crushing her.”
The girl was believed to have run away on Sept. 16 to attend a field party in Aurora for college and high school students. Her parents called the Cloud County Sheriff’s Office for help, according to a news release.
A deputy found her and tried to convince her to return home.
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“He was escorting her to his patrol vehicle, when she pulled out a firearm and shot herself,” in front of “multiple partygoers,” the sheriff’s office release says. The officer did not draw his weapon.
The girl’s family previously said that the teenager had switched schools to escape relentless harassment, but the abuse continued, reports say.
Her father, Jeb Chillson, told reporters that another girl had dumped rubber cement in her hair at school in front of other students and that she was often beaten up and once sexually assaulted.
Stacie described her daughter’s final year of life as one of constant torment and exclusion.
“I’ve read days worth of messages from her ‘friends’ that treated her absolutely awful,” she wrote. “Watched as she was not included with girls on her sports teams. Watched adults on a school level repeatedly fail her. Watched as girls that were once her best friends not even acknowledge her when she would walk by them, and watch a handful of parents who used to gush about her and how amazing she was turn to calling her names and talking badly about her to their kids.”
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The grieving mother lashed out at Jaylee’s bullies.
“Please do not, if you know YOU were part of the problem, if you knew YOUR child was part of the problem, use my daughter’s name now that she’s gone. You don’t deserve to,” Stacie wrote of her only daughter.
Jaylee left behind four heartbroken brothers. A funeral was held Sept. 25 at the Evangelical Covenant Church, where the teen was remembered for her love of softball, fishing and camping.
“The world lost one of its brightest lights,” her mother wrote in the online tribute. “This girl has the biggest heart of anyone I know.”
Stacie called her the perfect daughter and her everything.
“Our hearts are shattering. It’s unbearable. It’s not fair,” the mother wrote. “There is nothing that will ever make this hurt go away.”
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) is probing the tragic death. KBI and Clay County Superintendent Brett Nelson did not return requests for comment.
A GoFundMe to help the family pay for funeral expenses has raised more than $24,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.