LGBTQ student Nex Benedict died by suicide, Oklahoma medical examiner rules

Nex Benedict, an Oklahoma LGBTQ student, was bullied at school and involved in a fight the day before he died. The medical examiner ruled the death was caused by suicide.

The death of Oklahoma student Nex Benedict has been ruled a suicide, according to a medical examiner’s report released Wednesday. 

The 16-year-old, who was transgender and used he and they pronouns, according to friends and family, died Feb. 8, a day after a fight at Owasso High School. His name has become a rallying cry among LGBTQ activists, who argue that an onslaught of legislation targeting the community has made schools less safe for queer and trans students like Nex.

Nex had reportedly told his mother that he faced bullying at school over his gender identity, and body-camera footage released last month by police from the hours after the school fight shows Nex lying in a hospital bed. In the video, he tells a police officer how three students “jumped” him after he threw water on them because they were bullying him and his friend for the way they dressed.

Nex Benedict outside the family’s home in Owasso, Okla., in Dec. 2023.Sue Benedict via AP fileThe Owasso Police Department released preliminary information from an autopsy report on Feb. 21 that they said shows Nex’s death was not the result of trauma. Days later, a spokesperson for the department clarified that the fight had not been ruled out as having contributed to or caused his death. 

The medical examiner’s report listed a probable cause of death as “combined toxicity” from two drugs, one of which is available over the counter and the other by prescription.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nex-benedict-suicide-death-oklahoma-student-lgbtq-rcna143298

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