More than 100 students, community members and family gathered outside Benjamin Franklin High School on Thursday evening, Oct. 1, to honor a 17-year-old student who died the day before after falling from the building.
Mourners poured in for hours, adding bouquets, candles and signs to a memorial in front of the school. Some wrote condolences on banners, and others held signs that read “Stop the hate. Stop bullying” and “Justice for Xavier.”
Police and firefighters responded around 1 p.m. Wednesday to the school at 820 North Avenue 54, and paramedics took the boy to a hospital after the fall, according to the Los Angeles City Fire Department. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
A death investigation is ongoing. Los Angeles police officials didn’t provide information on whether investigators believe foul play was involved.
Family members at the vigil identified the boy as Xavier Amaya, a senior, who they said dealt with bullying at the school since his sophomore year. Xavier wanted to move in order to switch schools because of the issues he was experiencing, his aunt Stephanie Amaya said.
Video circulating on social media appeared to show another student hit Xavier before the two are seen running in an outdoor hallway, and Xavier goes over the railing. Stephanie Amaya said family members weren’t sure if the student in the video had bullied Xavier previously.
“We need justice for him,” Stephanie Amaya said.
She and other family members said school and district officials need to be held accountable and felt the school didn’t do enough to protect Xavier from ongoing bullying.
A Los Angeles Unified School District spokesperson said Thursday that the district is working with Franklin High School to provide support and resources to students and staff following the student’s death.
The district’s crisis team has been on campus providing grief counseling, classroom visits and referrals for students and staff who need additional mental health support. Mental health staff have also met with faculty and staff, and the district said they will remain on campus in the coming days.
Substitute teachers have also been assigned to the school to provide additional support, the spokesperson said. Students, families and staff can also call the district’s student and family resource line at 213-241-3840.
James Flores, Xavier’s friend and classmate, said he was walking to class the day of Xavier’s death when he heard yelling and running. He believes staff were yelling and trying to get to Xavier before James and other students watched him fall from the building.
“Lots of people saw and heard it,” James said. “It’s traumatic.”
James stayed home from school Thursday, but his brother, Lucas Flores attended.
The school was emptier than usual, Lucas said. School staff told students that what happened was a tragic accident, but they didn’t talk about Xavier specifically, he said.
James said he’ll remember Xavier as a kind friend who put in extra effort to make his friends laugh.
“He was a person who was supportive and always tried to make people laugh,” James said.
Some in the school community said there have been issues with fighting at the school. James said there have been a few big fights on and off campus each year. Gabriella Alvarez, a mother of a senior at the school, said her daughter told her there are fights about every other week.
“I hope they actually do listen and do something about it,” Alvarez said. “Bullying is serious. It can happen to anyone.”