06/06/2026
🙏 This Entire Article Published Will Shock You🙏
⬇️ Make sure you read it until the end as I share my experience in attempting to aid in Sarasota High School. ⬇️
Bullied girl begged middle school for help before taking her own life: lawsuit
New Jersey's Felicia LoAlbo-Melendez, 11, recorded anti-bullying warning before death, sent SOS email to teacher.
-Chris Eberhart By Chris Eberhart Fox News Published November 8, 2023 4:00am EST
The girl reached out to teachers for help after she was mocked by other students who called her "gay," "ugly," a "midget" and "furry," before she died by su***de, according to a lawsuit filed last week.
Racist insults, which Fox News Digital chose not to publish, were allegedly hurled at Felicia — at times in class — according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit involves seven students, all of whom are minors and identified by initials, who admitted to bullying Felicia "via cell phones" and retaliating after Felicia's mom spoke to one of the student's parents.
The student "retaliated against Felicia by encouraging others to continue the verbal abuse of Felicia," the lawsuit says.
The student's insults were echoed by several classmates, and they allegedly excluded her from activities because Felicia "advocated (for her) position that love was love and that she could love another of the same or different gender," the lawsuit says.
In one alleged instance, a student poured water on Felicia’s chair when she stepped away from her desk, and Felicia sat in the chair without seeing the puddle.
A student allegedly yelled out, "Look, who (urinated) in her chair," while other students in the class laughed, according to the lawsuit.
"Despite this being witnessed by other students and the teacher, the teacher never took action to report or discipline the student," the lawsuit says.
In April, Felicia's mom, Elaina LoAlbo, told Fox News Digital her daughter was always an advocate against bullying of any kind.
"Felicia was a bright student, having skipped a grade. She has been described as ‘a compassionate human everyone wishes they could be’ and as ‘kind and selfless … inspiring others with her radiant personality,’" the lawsuit states.
But the "persistent and systematic abusive actions" that spanned two school years ended in tragedy Feb. 6, when Felicia was found unconscious in a bathroom at F.W. Holbein School in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
After two days of "ongoing seizures" in the hospital, she died "cradled in the arms of her mother," the lawsuit says.
"(Felicia's) death came on the heels of multiple emails that Felicia sent to her counselors and school officials, first initiated by Felicia’s parents, regarding ongoing and systemic bullying that Felicia was suffering from at the school," the lawsuit says.
Felicia's mom told Fox News Digital in April, "It's not just my daughter's cries that fell on deaf ears, but this is happening in all the schools."
Cyberbullying in and after school is an epidemic The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said about one in five high school students reported being bullied on school property, and more than one in six high school students reported being bullied online in the last year.
Similar statistics showing increased bullying incidents in schools were laid out in the lawsuit.
In Felicia's school district, the number of bullying incidents nearly doubled from six reported complaints in 2021-2022 to at least 11 during the 2022-2023 school year, according to the lawsuit.
But those numbers don't tell the whole story, according to the legal action, which suggests the number of incidents is likely higher.
In Felicia's school district, the number of bullying incidents nearly doubled from six reported complaints in 2021-2022 to at least 11 during the 2022-2023 school year, according to the lawsuit.
But those numbers don't tell the whole story, according to the legal action, which suggests the number of incidents is likely higher.
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"The (Board of Education's) substandard public record keeping makes it impossible tell which of the bullying incidents were confirmed to be bullying conforming with the state law’s definition," the lawsuit says.
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"The Mount Holly Board of Education minutes reveal a severe under-reporting of bullying incidents."
The school district didn't respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment about the allegations in the lawsuit and the statistics reported in the lawsuit.
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Family's law firm settled highest NJ school bullying suit
Felicia's family is being represented by Nagel Rice LLP, which settled with New Jersey's Rockaway Township School District for $9.1 million over the summer.
"This settlement should send a strong signal to schools around the country that bullying is an epidemic, and schools have a responsibility to protect our children," Nagel said in a statement after the settlement.
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The federal government provides resources for parents, victims and school districts on stopbullying.gov, which is managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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Let it be known that stopbulling.gov
Is simply a research and resource tool of articles.
It will not help schools stop bullying, follow up on incident reporting, or anything else.
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I have personally reached out to Sarasota Highs School to help, aid, and get involved.
They advised me that they have to follow school guidelines, which I wasn’t asking them not to. They should follow all the school guidelines for the state.
However, my organization was never there to hurt anything they have in place- my presence would be there to assist.
When I wrote back saying this they told me they have to get approval from the board. That’s fine.
In the meantime, I will work with community members, who want to help in this epidemic that is just getting worse every year.
If you’d like to help me in anyway collecting my data research please DM.
FOX 4 News
