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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A 16-year-old Oklahoma student who died the day after a fight Three girls were conscious and alert when they told police they were attacked after the teen sprayed her with water in the high school bathroom, according to police video released Friday.
Nex Benedict’s mother called police to come to the hospital on Feb. 7 after the teen was attacked at school in the Tulsa suburb of Owasso. Nex, who identified as non-binary According to audio released by Owasso police, and used they/them pronouns, he died the next day after his mother called emergency responders to his home, saying Nex’s breathing was shallow, his eyes rolling back. And her hands were folded.
In video from the hospital on the day of the fight, Nex is seen explaining to an officer that the girls were teasing him and his friends because of the way they dressed. Nex claims that the girls in the bathroom said, “Something like: why do they laugh like that”, referring to Nex and his friends.
“And so I went over there and I poured water on them, and then all three of them came to me,” Nex told the officer while lying in a hospital bed.
“They came to me. He grabbed my hair. I caught them. I threw one of them in the paper towel dispenser and then they took my legs out from under me and threw me on the ground,” Nex says in the video, adding that the girls then started beating Nex and he passed out. Gone.
In a 911 call on February 8, Nex’s mother Sue Benedict expressed concern about a head injury while describing Nex’s symptoms.
“I hope it doesn’t come from his mind. “They’re supposed to give her a good checkup,” said Benedict, who remained calm during the call and said she went to nursing school. Benedict said in a statement GoFundMe page To help cover funeral expenses, it was established that the family was still learning to use the teen’s preferred name and pronouns.
Paramedics who arrived at the family home performed CPR and transported Nex to the hospital, where he later died.
In this image provided by Malia Pila, Nex Benedict stands outside the family home in Owasso, Okla., in December 2023. A recently released police search warrant has revealed more details in the case of Nex Benedict, a non-binary Oklahoma student who died a day later. High school bathroom fight that may have been inspired by bullying over gender identity. (Sue Benedict via AP)
In audio of a call Benedict made to police on February 7, Benedict said she wanted an officer to come so she could file charges. The responding officer can be heard in the hospital video explaining that Nex started the altercation by throwing water and the court will view it as a physical fight.
According to a police search warrant, Benedict indicated to police on February 7 that she did not want to file charges at that time. Instead, Benedict asked police to speak to school officials about issues between students on campus.
The February 9 search warrant, which was filed in court on February 21, also shows that investigators took 137 photos at the school, including photos taken inside the girl’s bathroom where the fight occurred. Additionally they collected two samples of stains from the bathroom and recovered records and documents of the students involved in the brawl.
While the two-week-old warrant said police were seeking evidence in an aggravated murder, the department has said, based on preliminary results of an autopsy, that Benedict’s death was not the result of injuries sustained in the fight.
The police department, which did not respond to multiple messages sent Friday, said it would not comment on the teen’s cause of death until toxicology and other autopsy results are complete.
Video released by police from the high school on February 7 shows students entering and then exiting a bathroom after placing chairs on top of tables in a cafeteria. Six students are seen entering the bathroom before Nex stops at a water fountain and then enters the bathroom with two other students. A faculty member is then seen going into the bathroom, and the students walk out.
The footage, which only shows the bathroom door and part of the cafeteria, gives no indication as to what happened in the bathroom.
The school district said the students were in the restroom for less than two minutes when other students and a staff member stopped the fight. Police and school officials have not said what sparked the fight.
The family, through its attorney, declined to comment on the search warrant Friday. The lawyer had no immediate comment on behalf of the family on the video and audio released Friday. Earlier this week, they said they had launched their own independent investigation into what happened.
A weekend vigil is planned in Oklahoma for the teens.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday she was “absolutely saddened” by Nex’s death.
“Every young person deserves to feel safe and supported at school,” said Jean-Pierre.
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Marcello reported from New York and Stengel from Dallas.
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