Three students may face charges over teenager’s suicide
New York police are considering charging a number of students over the suicide of a 14-year-old boy.
Jamey Rodemeyer, a student at Williamsville North High School, killed himself last Sunday.
He had suffered homophobic bullying and messages were left on his personal blogs urging him to commit suicide.
Amherst Police Department’s Special Victims Unit is considering charging three students with hate crimes or harassment.
Police Chief John C Askey told Buffalo News: “We’ve heard that there were some specific students, an identifiable group of students, that had specifically targeted Jamey, or had been picking on him for a period of time.
“We’re looking into it to see if he was the victim of any crimes, and that’s the bottom line. We’re going to be speaking to school officials and students and anyone with direct information about crimes that may have been committed against this individual.”
Police have not yet revealed how Jamey killed himself.
The teenager had complained of being targeted by bullies and wrote in a September 9th blog post: “I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens. What do I have to do so people will listen to me?”
He came out as bisexual to close friends last year and recorded an It Gets Better video (see below).
He was an avid fan of pro-gay singer Lady Gaga and posted an online tribute to her before he died.
The star has announced she plans to meet with President Barack Obama to discuss the issue of anti-gay bullying.
