DEMOPOLIS, Ala. -- An Alabama 9-year-old committed suicide in the wake of several instances of bullying, some of which her mother says were racially motivated.
McKenzie Adams was found Dec. 3 at home by her grandmother after the girl had hanged herself. Her mother, Jasmine Adams, told WIAT-TV her daughter recently spoke of being bullied at school.
"She told me that this one particular child was writing her nasty notes in class," Jasmine Adams said. "It was just things you wouldn't think a 9-year-old should know.
"And my baby to tell me some of the things they had said to her, I was like, 'Where are they learning this from?'"
Jasmine Adams said McKenzie told teachers and the assistant principal at U.S. Jones Elementary School in Demopolis, Alabama, about the bullying. It wasn't the first time; she pulled her daughter from another school because of bullying and it continued at the new school.
The girl's mother says race is a factor in her bullying.
"Part of it could have been because she rode to school with a white family," Jasmine Adams. "And a lot of it was race, some of the student bullies would say to her, 'Why you riding with white people, you're black, you're ugly.'
"'You should just die.'"
If you or someone you know has suicidal thoughts, confidential help is available: Call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.
