At a vigil, friends remember Nex Benedict as 'fiery kid’

Friends and community members in Owasso, Oklahoma, gathered Sunday to pay tribute to Nex Benedict, who died the day after a fight in school.

OWASSO, Okla. — Ally, a senior at Owasso High School, said the last thing Nex Benedict said to them was “happy birthday.”

Nex was involved in a fight at the school on Feb. 7, Ally’s birthday, and died the next day. Nex’s mother, Sue Benedict, told The Independent that Nex, 16, was bullied because of his gender identity. As a result, his death has become a rallying cry for LGBTQ activists as Oklahoma and states across the country consider dozens of bills that target the community.

Ally, who uses they/them pronouns and asked to go by only their first name to protect their privacy, said in an interview that they were close friends with Nex.

“It was one of those things where you meet them and you automatically feel like you’ve known them for years kind of thing,” Ally said Sunday before a vigil for Nex, whom they met at the start of the school year. “They were such an adventurous little thing. It was never really a dull moment with them.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/vigil-friends-remember-nex-benedict-fiery-kid-rcna140440

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