The Tragic Death of Adriana Kuch: Teen's dad Michael slams trolls for linking daughter's bullying to race
BERKELEY, NEW JERSEY: The grief-stricken father of Adriana Kuch, who died by suicide after being bullied at her school, has blasted trolls for describing the heart-shattering tragedy as a racial dispute. The 14-year-old died on February 3 after a video of her being beaten up by bully girls in the school hallway was shared on the internet.
The disturbing video, capturing the brutal assault at Central Regional High School, shows at least four students attacking Kuch with a water bottle while she was walking with her boyfriend. The bullies then kicked and punched the teen as she curled up in a fetal position on the floor of the school corridor. While the race of the attacker is unclear from the video, some internet users are linking the barbaric assault with a racial dispute, according to DailyMail.
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Who are Adriana Kuch's parents? Dad Michael 'won't sleep' until late daughter's bullies are punished
‘Not here to make it about race’
Adriana's father has fiercely refuted the claims as he sought retribution from school officials who, in his opinion, did nothing to stop the assault that led to his loving daughter’s death. On Thursday, February 9, Michael Kuch shared a screenshot of a Snapchat story, in which an individual passing by one of the protests commented, "They are protesting against that white girl." He responded, "People are sending me garbage like this, I am not here to make it about race. Adriana was beautiful and she loved everyone. She did not care about race, the world would be a better place if everyone was as colorblind as she was.’
Michael previously revealed that he was devastated after seeing how her daughter was being treated at her school. "Getting hit with a water bottle didn't hurt Adriana, what hurt her was the embarrassment and humiliation, they just kept coming at her," he told ABC. He continued by saying that her daughter had "never been in a fight before, she's 98 pounds, 5'2 and she loves everybody."
Following Adriana’s death, the school suspended the four students involved in the attack. Three of the girls have also been charged with third-degree assault in the viral beating, while a fourth is facing a disorderly conduct charge. But Michael is seeking even stricter action against them as he believes the attack was planned.
‘No action was taken’
"These four girls planned and executed an attack. If you watch the videos I have, they are laughing while talking about what they are going to do at the start of the video," he wrote in a Facebook post. Michael added that he "called everyone" after he received the video - which showed his teenage daughter being beaten up - and "no action was taken." Michael then took a swipe at the school saying more could have been done to discover and take down the videos. "If the school contacted the police and filed a report and conducted an investigation, these videos could have been discovered immediately," he wrote. "I want the entire world to know what these animals did to my daughter. I will not sleep until their family has to watch them stand in front of a judge and plead guilty."