LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — Polk County authorities have seized cellphones and are combing through social media accounts of as many as 15 girls in an investigation into the suicide of a 12-year-old girl from Lakeland.
Rebecca Ann Sedwick climbed a tower at an abandoned concrete plant Monday and hurled herself to her death.
Sheriff Grady Judd says as many as 15 girls ganged up on Rebecca and tormented her, sending messages such as “You should die” and “Why don’t you go kill yourself.”
Judd says Rebecca’s mother took her out of middle school last year and home-schooled her in an attempt to put a stop to the bullying.
Florida has a bullying law, but it calls for schools, not police, to punish bullies. Legal experts said it is difficult to bring charges against someone accused of driving a person to suicide.
Source: Associated Press
