(NewsNation) — A grieving New Jersey mother hopes more information from her daughter’s school district can provide closure after the 11-year-old was found dead in a bathroom in what was declared a suicide.
Felicia LoAlbo-Melendez, a sixth grader at F.W. Holbein School, was found unconscious Feb. 6 by another student in a school bathroom and later declared dead at a hospital, according to school officials and police.
An autopsy performed by the Philadelphia medical examiner determined the manner of death a suicide and the cause of death complications from a suicide, the Daily Voice reported.
Her mother, Elaina LoAlbo, is in shock and disbelief. She wants to see the surveillance footage from inside the building that day, a request that so far has not been granted.
“She showed no signs of self-harm,” LoAlbo said of her daughter in an interview Wednesday on “CUOMO.” “She was an advocate for herself and for everybody else. Until I have some kind of proof that she was alone, I have no reason to think that she could have done this to herself.”
LoAlbo says her daughter was subjected to years of bullying before her death and alerted school guidance counselors. She asserts the school district failed to protect her daughter.
“She had written dozens of emails to them. They were fully aware that she was being bullied,” LoAlbo said. “They were supposed to switch her classes after winter break come January. She was supposed to switch classes because of the bullying.”
In an emailed statement to the The New York Post, Mount Holly School District Superintendent Robert Mungo said officials have “cooperated fully” in the investigation.
“The district has never turned down any request for information or footage pertaining to the investigation from any authorized individual,” he wrote.
A spokesperson for the local prosecutor’s office told The Post it plans on showing LoAlbo the surveillance footage now that a criminal investigation is complete.
“It’s been nine weeks and all I really want is some answers from these detectives so I can start the process of moving forward,” LoAlbo said.
The death of Felicia came just days after her father died of cancer. Despite the tragedy, LoAlbo said her daughter was raring to go back to school.
“Selfishly, I wanted her to stay home and go get a pedicure and all of that, and she told me that she had missed too much school, she had missed too much play practice and wanted to go see her friends,” LoAlbo said.
LoAlbo told outlet NJ Advance Media that her daughter was “not the only one” to suffer severe bullying with no punishment.
Felicia’s death came days after another New Jersey teenager, Adriana Kuch, killed herself after being bullied at school. A video of Kuch being assaulted in a school hallway was posted online before she took her own life.
