No charges will be filed in the death of Nex Benedict, the nonbinary teen who died a day after an altercation with three fellow students at an Oklahoma high school bathroom early last month, authorities said Thursday.
The death of the 16-year-old, who used both he and they pronouns, gained national attention last week after the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office ruled it a suicide.
President Biden said he was “heartbroken” by the loss, while LGBTQ rights groups repeated calls for a complete investigation into the teen’s death, demanding full accountability from school officials and Oklahoma authorities.
On Thursday, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said his office would not file criminal charges against the three teens involved in the fight.
In a lengthy news release, in which he deadnames the teen, Kunzweiler called the altercation an “instance of mutual combat” and noted that “fighting takes place at schools every day across the nation.”
The announcement was fiercely criticized by LGBTQ advocates, who say the decision shows how state leaders “don’t value Nex’s life.”
“Everyone from Superintendent Walters and Owasso High School to the unaccredited-since-2009 state Medical Examiner’s Office, the District Attorney, and Owasso Police Department have failed Nex Benedict and failed us all,” Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD president and CEO, told the Daily News in an email.
She also stressed the need for an independent investigation into the case so the community will learn “the truth about what happened to Nex, and what all marginalized youth in Oklahoma schools endure.”
Nex — who was seen on bodycam footage released by Owasso Police telling an officer they “got jumped” by people who had been “antagonizing” them at school — died on Feb. 8, a day after the attack at Owasso High School.
In a series of text messages Nex exchanged with their family, they said the students had “been bullying me and my friends,” according to a screenshot of the conversation shared with local television station KOKI.
Last week, Biden urged schools and parents “to take reports of bullying seriously,” and said “we must all recommit to our work to end discrimination and address the suicide crisis impacting too many nonbinary and transgender children.”
If you or someone you know is going through a crisis, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. LGBTQ youth are encouraged to call TrevorLifeline at (866) 488-7386, or text ‘START’ to 678-678
