WHAT’S BEING CLAIMED:
- A 16-year-old Tennesee high school student committed suicide after his classmates exposed him for being bisexual on social media.
- On Sept. 22, Channing Smith fatally shot himself after classmates posted screenshots of him confiding to a friend about his sexuality, according to news station WZTV.
- “He couldn’t face the humiliation that was waiting on him when he got to school on Monday, so he shot and killed himself,” Channing’s brother told WZTV.
A teenager in Tennesee committed suicide after he was outed for being bisexual on social media, his family said.
On Sept. 22, Channing Smith, a 16-year-old student at Coffee County High School, took his own life after classmates exposed screenshots online of him telling a friend about his sexuality, according to news station WZTV.
Channing’s brother, Joshua Smith, said the friend he confided to and a female classmate posted the screenshots of the conversation on Snapchat and Instagram.
“They did it to just completely humiliate and embarrass my brother,” Joshua told WZTV. “Being in a small, rural town in the middle of Tennessee, you can imagine being the laughingstock and having to go to school Monday morning.”
Joshua added that his brother called the girl who shared the screenshots and told her he was going to commit suicide.
But the girl didn’t tell anyone about Channing’s plans. He fatally shot himself just a few hours after the bullying incident.
“He couldn’t face the humiliation that was waiting on him when he got to school on Monday, so he shot and killed himself,” Joshua repeated.
The Smiths are asking Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott to file charges against Channing’s bullies.
“I was told by the lead investigator in Coffee County that he was pushing to have the kids charged criminally and the District Attorney’s Office has decided that they did not want to pursue it,” Joshua said.
The district attorney said his office is still investigating the events surrounding the teen’s death.
“My office has encouraged, cooperated in and supported the investigation into the events leading to this death,” Northcott told WTVF.
“Ethically, I am prohibited from commenting on an open investigation or prosecution. However, procedurally, no charging decisions have been made by my office nor has the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department asked for a decision since the investigation has not been completed.”
Source: New York Post