AURORA, CO (KDVR/CNN) – The parents of a 10-year-old Colorado girl who took her own life say their daughter’s school district may not have done enough to prevent the alleged bullying that led to her death.
Ashwanty Davis was a fifth-grader at Sunrise Elementary School in Aurora, CA. She had a passion for basketball and wanted to grow up to be a WNBA star.
But Ashwanty’s parents say something changed in the happy little girl at the end of October when she was involved in a fight after school on Sunrise Elementary property.
In a cell phone video, Ashwanty and another girl are seen fighting while a group of kids watched. According to Ashwanty’s mother, Latoshia Harris, her daughter confronted the girl, who she claims had been bullying her.
The video was uploaded to a social media app called Musical.ly, which is used for creating and sharing short videos.
“She was devastated when she found out that it had made it to Musical.ly,” said Anthony Davis, Ashwanty’s father.
The 10-year-old’s parents say the bullying she endured after the video surfaced was too much for Ashwanty to handle.
“She’s always been a happy girl, and then my daughter comes home two weeks later and hangs herself in the closet,” Harris said.
Ashwanty spent two weeks on life support at Children’s Hospital Colorado before dying Wednesday morning.
The girl’s family believes she is a victim of “bullycide,” a term used after someone takes his or her own life because of bullying.
“It’s easy that they can get on Facebook and all these apps, but they don’t have an app for help,” Harris said.
When the school district was made aware of the video in October, they say they spoke to the children involved, called their parents and handed the video over to police.
Ashwanty’s parents believe that action wasn’t enough. They say they wanted to meet with the other child’s parents and speak at school with the staff, but they weren’t allowed.
The couple believes if a meeting had occurred, it could have saved their daughter’s life.
The school says they are not aware of the request.
Ashwanty’s family is now determined to help other victims and end bullying in schools for good.
“As we journey on, her name won’t die because with the last breath of my life, I’m going to make sure unfortunate kids are able to go to school comfortably and learn,” Davis said.
Copyright 2017 KDVR, musical.ly, Family photos via CNN. All rights reserved.
