Oklahoma medical examiner rules death of teen Nex Benedict as a suicide

Maya Yang and agency
<span>People attend a candlelit service for Nex Benedict in Oklahoma City on 24 February 2024.</span><span>Photograph: Nate Billings/The Oklahoman via AP</span>
People attend a candlelit service for Nex Benedict in Oklahoma City on 24 February 2024.Photograph: Nate Billings/The Oklahoman via AP

The death of a non-binary teenager following a fight in a bathroom at Owasso high school in Oklahoma has been ruled a suicide, according to the state’s medical examiner.

In a summary report released on Wednesday, the state’s medical examiner listed 16-year-old Nex Benedict’s probable cause of death as combined toxicity from an antihistamine and an antidepressant.

Following the release of the report, the Owasso police department said: “From the beginning of this investigation, Owasso police observed many indications that this death was the result of suicide. However, investigators did not wish to confirm that information without the final results being presented by the Oklahoma medical examiner’s office.”

On 8 February, Nex, who was non-binary, was pronounced dead after visiting a hospital a day before, following a fight that broke out at a bathroom in their high school.

According to body-camera footage released by the Owasso police department, Benedict told a police officer that they were using the bathroom and chatting with their friends when a group of girls accused Nex of laughing at them. “I don’t know these girls,” Nex told the police officer.

“I was talking with my friends, they were talking with their friends and we were laughing. And they had said something like, ‘Why do they laugh like that?’ And they were talking about us in front of us,” Nex said, adding that they poured water from their water bottle on to the girls.

Nex said that one of the girls grabbed their hair and that they pushed one of the girls into a paper towel dispenser. They added that they were then thrown to the ground.

“They got my legs out from under me and got me on the ground and started beating the shit out of me,” Nex said, adding that their friends tried to help and that they could not recall additional details as they became unconscious during the fight.

Nex then visited a hospital and was discharged the same day. The following day, Nex’s mother, Sue Benedict, placed a call to 911 and said that she was worried her child had a brain injury as a result of the fight. She added that they had shallow breathing and their eyes were rolled in the back of their head, NBC reported. Nex was pronounced dead after being rushed to a nearby hospital.

In response to the state medical examiner’s summary report, the Owasso public schools superintendent, Margaret Coates, said: “The loss of Nex, a member of the Ram family and the Owasso community, is devastating. We understand that the information released today may bring up additional thoughts, feelings and emotions for students and staff members. Because each person may respond differently, the district employs an experienced team of counselors that are available to students and staff every day.”

Nex’s death has triggered widespread outrage across LGBTQ+ communities. “We’ll see people throw their hands up and say, ‘Oh, we don’t know why this violent, horrible event happened.’ But everyone knows what stoked the hate, it’s all very intentional,” Tiara Kelley, a drag performer in Colorado, told the Guardian.

In addition to vigils held across the country for Nex, dozens of students at Owasso high school staged a walkout last month over Nex’s death.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Education said it will launch an investigation into Owasso public schools on whether it “failed to appropriately respond to alleged harassment of students”. The federal investigation comes in response to a complaint brought forth by Kelley Robinson, president of LGBTQ+ rights group Human Rights Campaign, who alleges that the school district discriminated against students by failing to respond appropriately to sex-based harassment.

According to the ACLU, Oklahoma lawmakers have introduced at least 54 anti-LGBTQ+ bills this year, the most out of any state.

Joe Biden also mourned the death of Nex Benedict, saying in a statement on Thursday: “Every young person deserves to have the fundamental right and freedom to be who they are, and feel safe and supported at school and in their communities. Nex Benedict, a kid who just wanted to be accepted, should still be here with us today.”

The president went on to add: “Non-binary and transgender people are some of the bravest Americans I know. But nobody should have to be brave just to be themselves. In memory of Nex, we must all recommit to our work to end discrimination and address the suicide crisis impacting too many nonbinary and transgender children … Parents and schools must take reports of bullying seriously.”

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

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