An eight-year-old New Jersey girl took her own life after reportedly reading a news story on Facebook about a Colorado girl who hanged herself in November.
Imani McCray had been sent to her room for a timeout just before the suicide attempt.
Authorities said her family members tried to revive her before medics arrived.
Emergency crews were called to her family’s apartment building in Newark around 1.40pm on Sunday.
Eight-year-old, mani McCray (left and right) took her own life after reportedly reading a story about a Colorado girl who hanged herself in November
Imani had a faint pulse when paramedics arrived, but prosecutors said she was pronounced dead at the University Hospital in Newark
Emergency crews were called to her family’s apartment building (pictured) in Newark around 1.40pm on Sunday
Imani had a faint pulse when paramedics arrived, but prosecutors said she was pronounced dead at the University Hospital in Newark, according to NBC New York.
Essex County prosecutors said they are trying to determine if Imani may have seen the story about 10-year-old Ashawnty Davis, who hanged herself in November, and copied what she had read.
Prosecutors also said Imani may have hanged herself in a case of tragic playacting at her home, according to NBC.
Imani would have turned nine years old next week. Her death comes a little over a week after Ashawnty was taken off life support.
Ashawnty died two weeks after she hanged herself because a video of her being bullied was posted on social media.
‘It’s just devastating,’ her father, Anthony Davis, told KDVR-TV. ‘She was just a child of joy and she brought joy to everyone.’
In late October, Ashawnty, a fifth-grade student at Sunrise Elementary in Aurora, was involved in a fight after school.
It was recorded by another student, who then sent the footage to an app called Musical.ly.
Essex County prosecutors said they are trying to determine if Imani may have seen the story about 10-year-old Ashawnty Davis (pictured), who hanged herself in November, and copied what she had read
Imani would have turned nine years old next week. Her death comes a little over a week after Ashawnty (pictured) was taken off life support. Ashawnty died two weeks after she hanged herself because a video of her being bullied was posted on social media
In the video, Ashawnty and another girl are seen fighting as a group of kids gathered around to watch. Ashawnty’s mother, Latoshia Harris, says that her daughter confronted a girl who was bullying her. It was recorded by a student and sent to an app called Musical.ly
Two weeks after the clip of the fight was posted to social media, Ashawnty hanged herself in a closet. She then spent another two weeks on life support at Children’s Hospital Colorado
In the video, Ashawnty and another girl are seen fighting as a group of kids gathered around to watch.
Ashawnty’s mother, Latoshia Harris, said that her daughter confronted a girl who was bullying her. ‘I saw my daughter was scared,’ Harris said.
Harris and Davis showed the clip to KDVR-TV which broadcast parts of it – through the children’s images were muzzled.
‘She was devastated when she found out that it had made it to Musical.ly,’ Davis said.
After the clip was posted to Musical.ly, Ashawnty was subjected to frequent teasing and bullying at school, according to her parents.
They said that the abuse their daughter took turned her into a different person. Ashawnty could no longer live with the shame.
‘My daughter came home two weeks later and hanged herself in the closet,’ Harris said.
Harris and Davis are urging other parents to be on the lookout for signs of ‘bullycide’ – or when a child is driven to suicide because of bullying.
‘We have to stop it and we have to stop it with our kids,’ Davis said.
‘I want other parents to know that it’s happening,’ Harris said. ‘That was my baby and I love my baby and I just want mothers to listen.’
‘It’s just devastating,’ her father, Anthony Davis (left, with her mother Latoshia Harris), told KDVR-TV. ‘She was just a child of joy and she brought joy to everyone’
Imani was taken off life support at Children’s Hospital Colorado following her suicide attempt.
Authorities said that there is no indication that Imani was bullied. Imani’s family is making funeral arrangements.
The tragic deaths of Imani and Ashawnty are reminders that more than 3.2 million students who fall victim to bullying each year.
About 17 percent of American students reports being bullied two to three times a month or more within a school semester.
Stand up against bullying by visiting StopBullying.gov to learn more about what you can do.
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