The death of a 17-year-old Highland Park high school student was ruled a suicide, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office.
Xavier Nungaray-Martinez died at Benjamin Franklin High School on Sept. 30.
At a vigil held outside the school last week, family members said the senior had dealt with bullying since his sophomore year.
A video shared online shows what appears to be a boy getting hit by another student in a classroom, the two then going along an outdoor school hallway on the fourth floor and one boy going over the railing to the courtyard below. While the two were inside the classroom, an adult tried to stop the confrontation, saying, “Stop! Stop! Calm down.”
The adult was standing between them, the video shows, with his arms extended to try and separate the two before the one student punches the second one, who hustled to the outside, soon followed by the other student. The video shows one boy going head first over the railing.
A classmate said he saw staff yelling for Nungaray-Martinez and trying to get to him before he went over the railing. The coroner listed the place of death as a hospital.
“The district is respecting the privacy of the individual and loved ones,” a Los Angeles Unified School District spokesperson said. “If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or (go to) 988lifeline.org.“
An aunt of Nungaray-Martinez’s, Stephanie Amaya, and other family members have said they believe the school did not do enough to respond to ongoing bullying to the boy.
Amaya has started a petition calling for increased security measures at Los Angeles Unified schools, requesting more training for security officers and more security cameras, railing-safety systems, police presence at each campus and improvements to communication for campus staffers.
On Tuesday, Oct. 6, Los Angeles police declined to say if an investigation was still underway.
Family members have identified the boy as Xavier Amaya, a senior. He had also been ID’ed elsewhere as Xavier Nungaray.