Boy, 10, hangs himself after bullies beat him up in school and wrote 'kill yourself' on his tablet
A 10-year-old Texas boy tragically ended his life after he was bullied viciously at school by other boys. According to reports, they beat him up brutally and wrote "Kill yourself" on his tablet. Although Kevin Reese Jr had been a goofy child who loved to draw and paint, he was being severely tormented at school, recalled mother Crystal Smith, who hails from Katy, Texas, according to a Daily Mail report.
Speaking to KTRK, she said, "I never thought he would go this far, never. I'm still in disbelief. It's taking me a while to actually accept the fact that this happened."
According to the devastated mother, she thought her son was "handling" the situation well and had no idea of the extent to which it had worsened. She revealed that the boys in his class took advantage of his small stature and beat him up before writing "Kill yourself, you don't belong here" on his tablet.
"When it got physical back in November, he came home crying because he didn't fight back," she said. "And one of the boys punched him several times coming from recess." Two months after the incident, Smith said her son "just had enough" and "felt that he was backed into a corner."
Smith was out of town for work on the afternoon of January 21 when Kevin and his 13-year-old sister came home from school. The troubled child's stepdad was on his way home, but was too late to save him.
Smith recalled how her daughter reacted when she found her brother's lifeless body. "She was just screaming on the phone and I didn't understand and she screamed 'Kevin'," she remembered. "He hung himself in his closet. I told her to hang up with me and cut him down, and while you're cutting him down call 911."
"Everything was not real," Smith added. "I was in a place where I just couldn't move."
Meanwhile, Kevin's school district denied allegations that the bullying had even been reported to the school or the district's anonymous reporting system Cy Fair Tipline.
However, Smith had reached out to a school official, who responded in a voicemail saying they had looked into the incident after Kevin was punched by another student.
According to the unnamed official, the other boy denied outright that there had ever been a physical altercation. "They told me they never found any bullying going on," the heartbroken mother added.
However, when the voicemail was handed over to authorities, the district "changed their tune" and said an official had spoken to Smith regarding the incident. The said official has since been re-assigned to another position in the district and is no longer at Robinson Elementary.
Smith said she has left Kevin's room untouched and that his homework has been sitting on his bed ever since the tragedy. "I just want to find the answer, what happened that day, what was going through his mind?" she said.
Now, the grieving mother hopes to help other parents by speaking out about her experience. "Pay attention to your child, don't assume that things are handled at the school," she said. "Stay on top of it until you see something come out on the end."
If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.