The LAPD says it still can’t connect alleged bullying to the death of a Los Angeles high school student who went over a fourth-floor railing after a brutal classroom clash — despite his family’s claims and video showing the confrontation that preceded his fatal fall.
Xavier Nungaray-Martinez, 17, died Sept. 30 at Benjamin Franklin High School in Highland Park. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner later ruled the manner of death suicide, finding multiple blunt traumatic injuries to the teen’s head and torso.
But the police investigation isn’t over, and detectives say they’re still trying to piece together what happened in the moments before Nungaray-Martinez went over the railing.
“At this preliminary stage of the investigation, detectives have not identified evidence establishing a connection between allegations of bullying and the student’s death,” the LAPD said Wednesday.
The department said its Robbery-Homicide Division is reviewing reports that bullying may have played a role, while also examining other factors and waiting for the final autopsy report. Police cautioned that their preliminary assessment should not be treated as a final determination.
The video from inside the school provides a grim glimpse of what happened before the fall.
Broadcast footage shows Nungaray-Martinez being confronted by another student while an elderly teacher tries to intervene. The student in the black backpack repeatedly punches him, eventually knocking him to the floor.
Then comes the chilling moment captured on video, with the classmate apparently taunting him: “Run, n—a, run.”
Nungaray-Martinez gets back up and races from the classroom into an outdoor hallway. The other student follows behind. Moments later, the teenager goes over the fourth-floor railing.
His stepmother has said bullying was nothing new for the teen. She told CBS Los Angeles that he was bullied regularly but was afraid to report it because he believed he could wind up being punished instead of those doing the bullying.
“He was scared that he was going to end up getting punished instead of the bullies,” she told the station.
So far, however, investigators say they have not established a link between those allegations and the death.
The school was locked down after the Sept. 30 incident, and a vigil followed the next evening, with relatives, classmates and community members leaving candles, flowers and other memorials.
Benjamin Franklin High School reopened the following day, a decision that drew criticism from some, while additional mental health professionals were made available to students.
Netza Ortiz, a Los Angeles School Police Department public information officer, urged families to keep tabs on their children.
“We encourage families to check in with their children and remind them that it is okay to seek support when needed,” Ortiz wrote.
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