The family of a 13-year-old boy who died by suicide five months ago is filing a legal claim against the Coronado Unified School District in California, alleging that school officials failed to intervene in the bullying he endured.<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched my son die,\u201d said Orsolya Palacios, mother of Gabriel Palacios, during a press conference on Thursday, Sept. 18, announcing the complaint. \u201cGabriel did not deserve this. No one deserves this, and it needs to be stopped,\u201d she added, her voice breaking as she addressed reporters.<\/p>\n
Gabriel, a seventh-grade student at Coronado Middle School, was neurodivergent and had Tourette\u2019s syndrome and ADHD, according to ABC affiliate KGTV and CBS affiliate KFMB. His family says these conditions made him a frequent target for bullying both in person and online.<\/p>\n
The alleged harassment intensified after Gabriel accidentally shared a private video of himself on Snapchat, according to John Gomez, the family\u2019s attorney. The video, which Gabriel created out of personal concerns regarding his body, was reportedly saved by another student who then threatened to distribute it further. After the family notified school officials, they were told the student denied knowledge of the incident, and no further action was taken.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the best of our knowledge, CMS did not take any further action to stop the video, investigate the allegations, or halt the bullying from continuing,\u201d Gomez said.<\/p>\n
Gabriel\u2019s legal claim also asserts that the school was aware of his deteriorating emotional state. The boy reportedly ate lunch in the counselor\u2019s office daily to avoid confrontation with peers, yet, according to his family, little was done to support him.<\/p>\n