Nex Benedict’s family will privately investigate bullied non-binary student’s death after fight
‘Nex was attacked and assaulted in a bathroom by a group of other students. A day later, the Benedict’s beautiful child lost their life,’ family say in statement
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Nex Benedict’s family say they are conducting an independent investigation into the teenager’s death, after early autopsy results indicated they did not die from trauma.
Nex, 16, died on 8 February, one day after they suffered head injuries in a bathroom fight in Owasso High School, Oklahoma.
The 10th grader’s mother Sue Benedict told The Independent in an interview on Monday that they had been bullied by other students for over a year due to their non-binary identity.
The Owasso Police Department said in a statement on Wednesday that initial autopsy findings indicated that Nex did not die as a result of trauma.
“Preliminary information from the medical examiner’s office is that a complete autopsy was performed and indicated that the decedent did not die as a result of trauma,” Owasso police said.
They added that they were awaiting the results of toxicology and “other ancillary reports” before they could confirm a cause of death.
In a statement released through their lawyers on Wednesday night, the Benedict family urged police to investigate “all potentially liable parties to do so fully, fairly and expediently”.
“On February 7th, 2024, the Benedict Family sent their child, Nex Benedict, to Owasso High School, trusting, like any parent or family member should be able to, that it was a safe environment for their loved one,” Oklahoma City-based Bibi Law Firm said in a statement.
“While at Owasso High School, Nex was attacked and assaulted in a bathroom by a group of other students. A day later, the Benedict's beautiful child lost their life.”
The family said that the facts surrounding Nex’s death, some of which have not been released publicly, were “troubling at best”.
The Benedict family called on “school, local, state and national officials to join forces to determine why this happened, to hold those responsible to account and to ensure it never happens again”.
“Notwithstanding, the family is independently interviewing witnesses and collecting all available evidence.”
According to Owasso police, Nex was involved in a “physical altercation” at Owasso High School West campus on 7 February.
Ms Benedict told The Independent she arrived at the school to find Nex with bruises over their face and eyes, and with scratches on the back of their head.
Nex told their mother they had been knocked to the ground and had hit their head on the floor. The school district has said it did not notify police and determined that none of the students required emergency medical attention.
Ms Benedict took the teenager to a local hospital, and they were discharged. Nex collapsed at home the next day after suffering what police described as a “medical emergency”, and was later pronounced dead in St Francis Pediatric Emergency Room.
Text messages published by a Fox affiliate in Oklahoma showed that Nex told a relative that they’d tipped water over three girls who had been bullying them.
Nex texted that they “got jumped” by three students, and that they felt “dizzy and nauseous” and they may have concussion.
Ms Benedict told The Independent in an interview this week that the bullying had begun at the beginning of the 2023 school year, months after Republican state lawmakers passed a bill that required public school students to use bathrooms that matched the sex listed on their birth certificates.
Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt last year signed an executive order defining an individual’s sex as the “biological sex” at birth and has targeted gender-affirming care for trans youths.
LGBTQ advocacy groups in Oklahoma have linked Nex’s death to the rise of hateful rhetoric and anti-trans legislation that the state legislature has passed.
The family said in the statement that it “graciously accepts and appreciates the outpouring of support, thoughts and prayers from across the nation for the loss of their child”.
“The Benedicts know all too well the devastating effects of bullying and school violence, and pray for meaningful change wherein bullying is taken seriously and no family has ot deal with another preventable tragedy.”
It further asked that any threats of violence against students and employees of the Owasso Public Schools cease immediately.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments