The Lethal Bullying of McKenna Brown: 'Worst' of bullies who drove teen to end life attended her funeral!
If you or anyone you know suspects child abuse, you are urged to immediately call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential and the hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
PALM HARBOR, FLORIDA: Of the three teenagers accused of driving McKenna Brown to end her life, the one who bullied her the most, attended her funeral, the teenager's mother revealed.
The 16-year-old, from Pinellas County, ended her life by suicide on August 7, after being bullied by her former friends and teammates in the Florida Hockey League. The three female players, whose identities have not been revealed by the authorities, were suspended from the Lightning High School Hockey League.
ALSO READ
McKenna Brown: Couple launch McKenna Way to help others as daughter, 16, dies by suicide
Naomi Judd died by SUICIDE after longtime struggle with mental illness, claims report
According to Marca, despite their actions, "the worst" of the three bullies still attended Brown’s funeral but did not dare to speak with her parents, who were disturbed by her presence. Recalling the heart-wrenching incident on 'Dr. Phil', Brown's mother, Cheryl, said, "Not all but one of them came to the funeral but they didn’t speak to us." Cheryl further revealed Brown even wrote a note for them before ending her own life. However, she neglected to mention the name of her bullies in her "thoughtful" note but her mother said she "knew that it had to have had something to do with these girls."
"I had no idea, to what degree, a lot of what we learned and pieced together after it came afterwards," Cheryl said. She stated that Brown, who wanted to play at the University of South Florida, killed herself a day before starting her senior year of high school.
Cheryl said the online harassment started after the girls found out Brown had been speaking to the ex-boyfriend of one the suspects. She reportedly met the ex-boyfriend on the beach where he started "flirting" with her. "McKenna had asked the one friend/teammate if she'd mind if she talked to her ex-boyfriend from two years earlier, and she said it was okay. She realized a few days later that it wasn't okay with a friend based on how she retaliated," Cheryl reportedly said. She even apologized to her friends for crossing the line but the girls were relentless.
The three suspects allegedly shared "really personal information about McKenna including her secret that she was raped at the age of 14 – with the motive of embarrassing her and humiliating her in front of other teammates." Some text messages obtained by Fox even showed one of the bullies telling her, "You have done all of us so wrong," and, "I hope I never see you again." The bullies even tried to 'cancel' her and "leave her without a single friend."
The Hockey League is probing the matter and is examining the allegations against the teenagers. The death of the young girl has left her parents devastated. They reminisced about their daughter being there for everyone and showing kindness even to her bullies. "I just wish she could have seen through it too. The suspensions would have still happened and repercussions would have been there, and she'd still be here," Cheryl said.