WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT
Death of ‘bullied teen’ Shaylee Mejia listed as accidental head injury — possibly from falling down stairs
A California teen who died 10 days after she was filmed in a brutal high school fight appears to have died from an accidental head injury — possibly from falling down stairs at a party, according to officials.
Shaylee Mejia, 16, was seen on video being attacked inside a bathroom at the Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles on March 5, which her mom says was at least the second time she was beaten by bullies.
The teen collapsed at a party four days later, and was taken unconscious to a hospital, where she died on March 15, officials told the Los Angeles Times.
However, a preliminary autopsy lists her death as an “accident,” with the cause listed as “sequelae of blunt head trauma,” or the result of a prior head injury.
The case remains “open,” and the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office report did not elaborate on what caused the fatal head injury.
However, investigators have been looking into reports that the girl fell down a flight of stairs during a birthday party on March 9, when she was hospitalized, according to the LA Times.
She was unconscious throughout her hospitalization, with doctors warning her family she had arrived in serious condition and had suffered a brain hemorrhage, the report said.
AN LAPD spokesperson told the paper officers received two calls in the case — first to report her falling at the party, and a second one the next day for a “lost juvenile found at a local hospital.”
The department did not respond to follow-up questions on the circumstances, the LA Times said.
Shaylee’s mom, Maria Juarez, trashed the suggestion that her daughter’s death was tied to anything other than the brutal bullying she says was caught on camera.
The mom, originally from Guatemala, blames the school district for not protecting her daughter — noting the cruel irony that she chose to raise her kids as a single mom to protect them from abuse by her ex.
“I didn’t know the enemy would be the school itself,” Juarez told the paper in Spanish.
The attack was captured in a disturbing cellphone video that showed her striking a bathroom stall before she tumbled to the floor.
The teen complained about a headache but still attended classes for several days, her mom said, and was rushed to the hospital after fainting at the party.
She remained unconscious until she died less than a week later.
Juarez, 34, claimed her daughter often came home covered in bruises after she enrolled at the public school a few months ago. She documented Shaylee’s injuries and reported them to school officials and campus police, but her pleas for help reportedly went unheard, she said.
“As a mother, I had full confidence in leaving her at the school and knowing everything would be OK,” Juarez told the LA Times.
“I’m in shock. I have another child who is 3 years old now. How will I send him to school? I will just be thinking that I am sending my child to his death again.”
Juarez’s civil rights lawyer, Luis Carrillo, also pushed back at the suggestion Shaylee fell down stairs, saying the party was held in a one-story building.
The attorney said it was clear that Shaylee had been badly beaten twice before she died, though he acknowledged that not everything is known yet about the case.
“You can see how her head hits that particular wall,” Carrillo told the LA Times, referring to shocking footage. “It was grotesque the way her head hit the wall.”
A school spokesperson told the outlet that the LAPD is still investigating the case and declined to answer further questions.
Principal Alejandro Macias said in a March 20 message to parents that he was “saddened to report the recent death of one of our students off campus.”
He offered condolences “to those who are impacted by this loss, including the student’s family, friends, and teachers.”
The following day, he sent another note to families about an incident in which “school staff intervened to break up a physical altercation between students,” according to the paper.
Macias noted that additional cops would be providing patrols on campus “in an abundance of caution,” though it wasn’t immediately clear if the incident was related to Shaylee’s death.
Juarez said she’s speaking out for the sake of other parents’ children.
“This situation has been immensely painful, but I can’t stay quiet. I can’t stay quiet because other girls could experience the same thing,” she told the LA Times. “This has to stop.”
Carrillo said the family is working toward filing a lawsuit in the case.
