Who are Jaylee Chillson's parents? Kansas school district superintendent expresses grief over 'bullied' teen's death
AURORA, KANSAS: Jeb and Stacie Chillson, the parents of Jaylee Chillson, the 14-year-old girl who left her family home against their wishes to attend a field party and shot herself when cops tried to escort her back, had previously asserted that she was a victim of bullying.
Furthermore, the parents also stated that Jaylee had to change schools within the Clay County school district due to enduring bullying from the age of 12, but they felt that the authorities did not adequately address these concerns.
They further mentioned that "something needs to change" and that the entire school district is in need of a "regime" change.
In the wake of the incident, Brett Nelson, superintendent of Kansas school district said Jaylee's death was a "tragic loss" and shared they were "providing support" to her family but did not deny the bullying allegations, the Daily Mail reported.
What is known about Jaylee Chillson's parents, Jeb and Stacie Chillson?
Jeb and Stacie are the parents of late teenager Jaylee, who claimed that their daughter was "bullied" in the community and even had to change schools due to the situation.
Jeb, a 38-year-old former EMT, who currently works as a truck driver, told The Messenger that he believed his daughter was at a field party on a property in Aurora, Kansas, after she left their Clay Center home on Saturday, September 16.
Jaylee's parents were worried over their daughter's history of being bullied and believed she may have left home with a 20-year-old male, the publication noted.
Jeb said he drove out to the party location in search of his daughter but was reluctant to go inside and "found somebody that was willing to go in."
When that person failed to find Jaylee, Jeb contacted the Cloud County Sheriff's Office for help. While waiting for cops to arrive, Jeb said he "overheard some guys in the party talking about a gun."
He also wanted to go inside the venue with the deputy after informing him about the talk of a gun. However, Jeb mentioned that he was not allowed to go in with the cop.
"He said, no, I couldn't go in there with him, that he would go get my daughter out," Jeb said.
The deputy drove Jeb to a gate outside "a cabin and a pasture" and turned on his cruiser's flashing lights. Recalling the horrifying moment, Jeb shared, "He's in there a few minutes. I hear a shot ring out."
Jeb reportedly called the Sheriff's Office back to ask if they knew what happened inside. "No, but we're getting reports of shots fired," he was reportedly told.
A dispatcher then asked Jeb to avoid going in and said "some supervisor got on the phone." "I said, 'I'm going in to make sure my daughter's okay. I used to be an EMT. I have first-aid training and stuff,'" Jeb remembered.
"And he said, 'Okay, go ahead,'" the former EMT recalled. Jeb mentioned that upon arriving inside the venue he saw a group of people standing near the gate who told him a girl had been shot.
"I go running over there. That's when I discover, see my daughter being held by some guy." Jeb said that the deputy told him, "As I was walking up to her, she pulled a gun out and shot herself."
Jeb said an ambulance crew arrived at the venue but it was him who continued to work towards saving his daughter and provided her CPR.
"I said, 'I'm not just going to let my daughter die,' so I started doing CPR on her," Jeb shared. "I did CPR and begged them to give her an IV... oxygen, something to just help me try," he added.
Jeb said officials placed a monitor on Jaylee after about 10 minutes of CPR but "nothing was coming up." He continued, "I wasn't going to stop," adding, "so I did CPR for probably another, I think it was 40-some minutes."
Unfortunately, Jeb failed to resuscitate Jaylee as she succumbed to the self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The father said that Jaylee has been getting help from a therapist over the last two years to deal with being bullied by other young people in their community.
"But nobody saw this coming. There was never any reason when this happened to even suspect this was going to happen," Jeb mentioned.
Jaylee's grieving mother, Stacie, echoed similar sentiments in a heartwrenching tribute post shared on Facebook.
"The world lost one of its brightest lights," Stacie wrote about her daughter. "This girl has the biggest heart of anyone I know and has since she was just a little girl," she added.
"There wasn’t a day that went by that she couldn’t make you laugh till you couldn’t breathe. She is amazing. Perfect. Everything you could ever ask for in a daughter," Stacie mentioned, adding, "She’s beautiful. She’s smart. She is our everything."
"Our hearts our shattering. It’s unbearable. It’s not fair. She was our best friend. The best daughter. The best big sister. The best granddaughter. There is nothing that will ever make this hurt go away," the mother wrote.
"I’m also angry. I’m angry with those that hurt my baby," Stacie mentioned. "I’m furious with those I KNOW hurt her and will talk about her now like they didn’t play a part in crushing her," she added.
"I’ve read days worth of messages from her 'friends' that treated her absolutely awful. Watched as she was not included with girls on her sports teams. Watched adults on a school level repeatedly fail her," Stacie alleged.
"Watched as girls that were once her best friends not even acknowledge her when she would walk by them, and watch a handful of parents who used to gush about her and how amazing she was turn to calling her names and talking badly about her to their kids," she continued.
"No one outside of our family and her threpist know what the last year of her life has been like," Stacie stated.
"Please stop making assumptions, please don’t judge her. And please do not, if you know YOU were part of the problem, if you knew YOUR child was part of the problem, use my daughters name now that she’s gone. You don’t deserve to," she requested.
"She deserved everything she ever could have wanted in this world. We love you with all our heart and soul our sweet baby girl. We love you more than anything," the mother concluded.
Jeb and Stacie previously claimed that their daughter was targeted by teenage girls at Clay County Middle and High School before she was moved to nearby Wakefield, the Daily Mail reported.
They claimed she often came home with "bruises on her arms" and once had rubber cement rubbed into her hair. Jeb also alleged that a boy even "sexually harassed" Jaylee by grabbing her crotch as well as stealing her birthday money and AirPods during a separate incident.
The parents claimed that teachers never took any action despite the family contacting the school on multiple occasions.
"No one followed up on anything with my daughter. The kids have gotten away with so much stuff," Jeb alleged.
"So many of them promised to do something, but they never did. They just didn't do anything, they failed her," he continued.
"The only reason I'm even telling this story is because something needs to change, and quickly," Jeb mentioned.
"I live in a town of 10,000 people and tons of them are reaching out to me with the exact same story saying that they're scared it will end the exact same way for their child," he added.
Jaylee's family also set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to raise the cost of her funeral and memorial. The fundraiser has raised over $24,000 in its $20,000 goal, at the time of writing.
What did Brett Nelson say about Jaylee Chillson's death?
Superintendent of Kansas school district, Nelson, dubbed Jaylee's death as a "tragic loss." "Jaylee was a student in our school district from August 2014 to March 2023, and I was deeply saddened when I heard about her death," he said.
"Over the past week, our school district has been focused on supporting the people most affected by this tragic loss. This includes offering and providing support to Jaylee's family, as well as working closely with our students' families and district employees during this difficult time," Nelson added.
"Finally, we are reminding our students to tell a trusted adult if they are struggling or know someone who might need help," he mentioned.
"Our counseling team is available to students in every school, and our staff team knows how to connect students with highly trained, caring professionals who can help them get through the challenges of school and life in safe and healthy ways," Nelson shared.
Jaylee Chillson's father clarified that she did not 'run away'
An official statement provided by the Cloud County Sheriff's Office, said, "On Saturday, September 16 at around 11.25 pm, a Clay Center resident called the Cloud County Sheriff's Office to request help locating a family member who was a 14-year-old female."
"The girl was believed to have run away, and was through to be attending a party near Aurora, Kansas," it read.
"A deputy responded to the outdoor field party that was attended by college and high school students, occurring near 210th Road and Lark Road in Aurora," the statement continued.
"The deputy located the girl and tried to convince her to return to her family. He was escorting her to his patrol vehicle when she pulled out a firearm and shot herself. The deputy did not draw his firearm," it clarified.
"The sheriff's deputy and an off-duty firefighter attempted life-saving measures, but the girl was pronounced dead at the scene, shortly after midnight," the notice said.
"The Cloud County Sheriff's Office requested KBI assistance to conduct the death investigation to ensure impartiality since their deputy was present during the shooting," it noted.
"Multiple partygoers witnessed the incident and offered interviews. The investigation is ongoing," the statement concluded.
According to The Messenger, Jeb did not say whether he believed the official statement about the shooting provided by authorities.
"As far as what transpired there, I was not there for that part. I was out on the road and unable to see it," he said.
Jeb also refused to discuss who may have owned the gun with which Jaylee shot herself, citing "a pending investigation." "I can't talk about that," he said.
However, Jeb disputed one aspect of the police's statement, where they mentioned that Jaylee was "believed to have run away."
"She didn't actually run away. She just left without permission. It wasn't like she packed a bag or anything," Jeb clarified.
On Monday, September 25, the Sheriff's Office said that it asked the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to probe Jaylee's death "to ensure impartiality since their deputy was present during the shooting."