A 12-year-old Las Vegas girl took her own life after being tormented by bullies at her high school for months.
Flora Martinez, a sixth-grade student at Keller Middle School, committed suicide on May 7, eight months and one day after she was denied a transfer out of Duane D. Keller Middle School. Her funeral was on Thursday.
Her distraught parents now blame the Clark County School District for not doing enough to protect their daughter.
Grieving mother, said Alice Martínez News8: “I feel like the school had a duty to keep her safe while she was in their care and they just failed miserably.”
The girl’s parents said their daughter’s classmates began harassing her at the beginning of the school year. Flora’s mother stated that both she and her son went to the vice principal for help.
The mother then submitted paperwork to transfer her daughter out of the high school, but her request was denied in October.
Flora Martínez, 12, took her own life on May 7 after months and months of bullying
Flora’s mother said she had taken her daughter out of school for two weeks at the beginning of the school year when the bullying began, but when she returned to school it intensified.
“Everyone who intervened in that request to transfer her failed. If you are a parent and you are not outraged by this, you are also part of the problem,’ Martínez said.
Flora’s father, Joshua Parker, said: “This wasn’t just an incident that happened and, you know, she decided to take her life.”
“It was months and months and months of harassment that built up and eventually she just couldn’t take it anymore.”
The heartbroken father added: ‘Look how hard it was for my daughter. “My daughter was literally murdered by being harassed.”
Flora’s parents described their daughter as artistic. Someone who was “full of life and empathetic and who loved” ice cream and seafood.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Clark County School District for comment.
The tragic story comes just days after it was learned that a 10-year-old boy, Sammy Teusch, had committed suicide in Indiana on March 5 following relentless bullying at school over his teeth and glasses.
Their Greenfield parents said they complained repeatedly to their school but were ignored. His funeral was on Tuesday and hundreds of people attended.
Flora standing with her father who was holding a ‘My love’ sign
Flora’s heartbroken parents, Alice Martinez and Joshua Parker, claim the school failed them and failed to protect their daughter.
Duane D. Keller High School located on North Fogg Street is the school Flora attended. The school teaches students in grades six through nine and has a student population of 1,189.
Sammy’s parents, Sam and Nichole, said their son was subjected to both physical and emotional bullying at his school, and was tormented daily until the night he died.
They said the bullying started last year when he was in elementary school and continued through Greenfield Middle School.
The bullying escalated until a recent incident on a school bus where he was allegedly beaten. Sammy’s parents claimed they told teachers and school staff about the bullying 20 times, but no action was taken.
His father Sam told WTHR, “At first they made fun of him about his glasses and then they made fun of his teeth.” This lasted a long time.
‘I held him in my arms. I did what no parent should ever do, and every time I close my eyes, that’s all I can see.’
The abuse then turned physical, with Sam adding: “They beat him up on the school bus and the kids broke his glasses and everything.”
‘I called the school and said, ‘What are you doing about this? It keeps getting worse, and worse, and worse. And it’s not getting better. In fact, it’s getting worse.
Sammy Teusch, 10, committed suicide on May 5 after suffering terrible bullying
Dr. Harold Olin, superintendent of Greenfield Community Schools, told WTHR that neither the parents nor Sammy filed any bullying reports.
He added that school administrators and counselors had been in regular contact with the family, but declined to offer details about these conversations.
Sam added: “(The school) knew this was happening,” and the bullying ranged from school and the bus to social media platforms like Snapchat.
His mother Nichole said: ‘He was my little boy. He was my baby. He was the youngest.
Greenfield-Central Community School said in a statement: ‘The death of Samuel Teusch is tragic and has left our school corporation and the broader community in tremendous pain. Our hearts go out to the family right now.
‘Sammy was a student at Greenfield-Central for the last year and a half. He completed his third grade at Weston Elementary School in May 2023 and was a fourth grade student at Greenfield Middle School during the current 2023-24 school year.
‘We learned of his death on Sunday afternoon and sent our crisis response team to Greenfield Middle School and Greenfield Central High School (where he has two brothers) to start the week.
‘Our staff at Greenfield-Central has worked extensively with the Teusch family over the past 18 months. Contact between school staff and parents was frequent.
‘The parents reported the manner of death as suicide and we are investigating their claims related to bullying.
“While the investigation continues, we are focusing our resources primarily on meeting the immediate needs of the students we serve in Greenfield-Central schools.”
Indiana police have launched an investigation into the shock suicide and said his classmates could face criminal charges.
