The parents of a 12-year-old Black girl who attempted suicide last year are suing her teachers and the school district in Greenville County, South Carolina, for negligence in how they responded to alleged bullying and harassment of their daughter.
Ty Turner says she found her daughter Kelaia hanging from a belt in her bedroom on the evening of March 18, 2023. She told WYFF that her daughter was already cool to the touch and bleeding from her nose and that paramedics couldn’t find a pulse or heartbeat for a full eight minutes.
“She had fully committed to what it was that she was attempting to do,” said Turner.
Kelaia suffered severe brain damage and was in a coma for weeks, staying in the hospital for 101 days. Now 14, she is nonverbal and still has no control over her body, says Turner. She is dependent on a tracheostomy tube to breathe and a feeding tube and requires around-the-clock care from her parents and a part-time nurse.
According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in South Carolina, Greenville Division, Kelaia Turner first experienced bullying at Dr. Phinnize J. Fisher Middle School in August 2021 and reported it to school officials.
In December 2021, fellow students called her “a man” and “a roach” in teacher Olivia Bennett’s class, the complaint says.
“Ms. Bennett was complicit in the bullying and said nothing to the other students to stop it. One student asked, ‘Where’s the roach?’ and Ms. Bennett pointed to [Kelaia].”
Ty Turner emailed Bennett and the principal to complain, noting in her email that “children had committed suicide from this type of behavior in the past.” The next day, the principal acknowledged her complaint and said they were “working tirelessly to repair whatever is damaged.”
Both parents then met with the teacher to address the incident and discussed the need for the student leading the bullying to be separated from their daughter. On Jan. 26, 2022, that student confronted and “cussed out” Kelaia for telling her parents about the bullying incident but was not disciplined, the lawsuit alleges.
The bullying continued throughout 2022, “with no actions taken by the Defendants,” according to the complaint, which details other incidents and reports to school officials by the girl’s mother, including a fight between her daughter and another student in March 2022, after which Kelaia was suspended and “the student who caused the fight was not.”
On May 23, 2022, one of Kelaia’s classmates played a song and video on YouTube called “The Black People Song.” Defendant John Teer, a teacher, “allowed the song to be played without any comment on its offensiveness, nor any reprimand to or discussion with the student who played it,” the complaint says.
After her mother emailed Principal Smith and Metris Cain, another teacher, to complain about the video, Cain allegedly replied the following day that faculty “had been speaking with other students and that the investigation would be continued the next day. She concluded by stating, ‘Just wanted you to know that we are not taking this concern lightly.’”
In October 2022, Turner informed the school that another student “had been pushing [Kelaia] several times over the past month.” The lawsuit says the offending student was not punished and that the only reaction by the faculty was to tell the girl to inform them if it happened again.
The bullying continued, the complaint says, including an incident when Kelaia’s clothes “had water poured on them and were then thrown into the trash.”
Students made more disparaging comments about the girl’s appearance in the ensuing months, says Ty Turner, including that she looked “like a man.”
She was also called “Trans,” “Mustache Face,” “Nappyhead” and “Ugmo” in the presence of teachers and school staff members “with no repercussion,” despite the school’s “zero tolerance to bullying,” according to a Facebook post by Turner in October.
Kelaia attempted suicide by hanging on March 18, 2023, “as a direct result of the bullying of five Fischer Middle students,” the lawsuit alleges.
Two students added insult to injury by coming to visit Kelaia in the ICU and then taking photos of her and circulating them on social media, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit contends that “but for the actions and inactions of Fischer Middle,” Kelaia “would not have been continually bullied over the course of a year and a half, and would not have attempted suicide.”
It charges school officials and the school district with “failing to properly hire, supervise, train and monitor teachers who would enforce” its anti-bullying policies to “protect its students from harm.”
It says both teachers and students “exploited, harassed and verbally and physically abused” Kelaia and that nine individual teachers and faculty members failed in their duties to “provide a culture of safety and an environment free from assault at her school.”
It cites “an unfolding sequence of events” by the defendants that “exposed the plaintiff to injurious behavior,” including failing to properly institute policies and procedures against bullying and harassment and failing to properly investigate and discipline or punish faculty and students for known incidents of abuse and harassment.
Citing violations of both the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title IX protections against gender discrimination, the federal lawsuit says physical harm and discrimination were directed at Kelaia “because of her race, appearance and because she was female in gender.” And it argues that despite her continual complaints of bullying, the school did nothing to address it.
The plaintiffs anticipate that Kelaia will be permanently disabled and will likely have to undergo medical treatment, including therapy, for the rest of her life and will need constant care. They are seeking actual and punitive damages to cover her medical bills, psychiatric expenses, special education, lost wages, life care expenses, disability care, injury to her psyche and emotional state, and loss of enjoyment of life.
The parents of Kelaia are also suing for damages for themselves, anticipating loss of wages from having to take time off to manage her care, as well as for legal costs and “substantial injury to their psyche and emotional state.”
The complaint noted that state tort law includes “immunity caps” for certain governmental entities of $300,000 to $600,000 for a loss arising out of a “single occurrence” of an act of negligence and then proceeded to enumerate at least nine separate occurrences of negligence and misconduct by the defendants.
In the meantime, the family has set up a GoFundMe campaign to pay for expenses, including a wheelchair-accessible van, medical needs and home care for Kelaia.
On Facebook, Ty Turner posted photos and videos of Kelaia before her suicide attempt, describing her as having “a huge personality and an effervescent spirit full of humor.”
The youngest of her three girls, she said, “Kelaia learned quickly, speaking with a vast vocabulary and incredible level of understanding at just 3. Every activity we introduced her to, she excelled in: gymnastics, dance, soccer, chorus, and piano. A Girl Scout since Daisy, she was also a gifted artist who loved to create jewelry and draw.”
At age 11, she began selling handmade earrings and bracelets, and the following year, she got into acting, auditioning for and receiving a callback from Nickelodeon, wrote Turner. She also participated in a pageant “to build her confidence,” which she won.
The bullying started in elementary school when Kelaia “began to wear her natural hair to school … and then increased in middle school, and began to have a stronger effect on her overall mind, personality, and well-being,” wrote Turner.
“Unfortunately, words do hurt,” Turner told WYFF. “I don’t think parents understand … how a child is received by their peers supercedes everything that you will teach them, that you will pour into them.”
In its answer to the lawsuit, Greenville County Schools denied most of the allegations by the plaintiffs, including that its teachers or staff breached any of their duties, or that the school district violated any federal laws.
The district admitted that Bennett, the teacher, “pointed to [Kelaia] when another student asked, ‘Where’s the roach?’” and that Turner had sent several emails to school officials complaining about bullying of her daughter and how they had responded.
The district contended that all of its teachers and staff are immune from liability under South Carolina tort law and that the school district is protected by limitations on damages through state tort law and sovereign immunity.
In a written statement to WYFF about the lawsuit, Greenville County Schools said last week:
“The District is aware of the allegations made by this parent and has addressed them directly with the parent. We disagree with these allegations and have conducted a thorough investigation and review of each allegation at the time they were made. While we do not agree with the allegations, our hearts go out to Kelaia Tecora Turner, her mother, and their family.”
The statement, which included a link to its anti-bullying resources, continued:
“When a school is aware of possible bullying, those concerns are investigated promptly, thoroughly, and confidentially. Steps are taken to determine what occurred, and if any inappropriate conduct occurred, then disciplinary measures are provided to the offending student and strategies designed to prevent any similar conduct are implemented as well. If the alleged conduct is possibly criminal in nature, law enforcement is notified. Parents are also able to submit a formal complaint for allegations of bullying pursuant to Board Policy. … Parents can also contact a district ombudsman if they are not satisfied with a principal’s response to an allegation of bullying. As is communicated to parents and students, Greenville County Schools prohibits all forms of bullying, discrimination, harassment, or intimidation.”
The case is currently in the discovery phase, with plaintiffs’ attorneys seeking information from defendants and witnesses.
