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Edmond, Okla. –
Greater than two dozen folks gathered at an Oklahoma church for a vigil for Nex Benedict, a non-binary teenager who died someday after a battle in a highschool lavatory.
The vigil at All Saints Episcopal Church in McAlester was organized by the McAlester Rainbow Connection. It was considered one of two Friday evening in Oklahoma, the primary of greater than a dozen vigils scheduled nationwide by Monday.
Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old Oklahoma pupil, died the day after a battle in an Owasso Excessive Faculty lavatory.
The 16-year-old Oklahoma pupil recognized as non-binary and used they/them pronouns. Three ladies, who have been choosing on Benedict and a few buddies, attacked the teenager for pouring water on them, Benedict instructed police in a video launched Friday.
The teenager’s mom known as emergency responders to the house the day after the battle, saying Benedict’s respiration was shallow, their eyes have been rolling again and their fingers have been curled, in line with audio additionally launched by Owasso police.
Matt Blancett, who organized the vigil with the Rainbow Connection, an LGBTQ+ group, mentioned it was essential to carry a vigil in McAlester due to the homicide of Dustin Parker, a transgender man, in 2020.
“It exhibits those that now we have a group, we’re right here, we’re not going wherever,” Blancett mentioned.
All Saints Priest Janie Koch mentioned it is vital for folks to achieve out for help.
“It is rather crucial because the gamut of feelings are biking to be careful for one another, to be conscious of each other,” Koch mentioned.
In audio of the decision to police, Benedict’s mom, Sue Benedict, mentioned she wished to file prices. The officer who responded might be heard within the hospital video explaining that the teenager began the altercation by throwing the water and the courtroom would view it as a mutual battle.
In keeping with a police search warrant, Benedict’s mom indicated to police on Feb. 7 that she didn’t wish to file prices at the moment. She as an alternative requested police to talk to officers at Owasso Excessive Faculty about points on campus amongst college students.
The Feb. 9 search warrant, which was filed with the courtroom on Feb. 21, additionally exhibits investigators took 137 images on the faculty, together with contained in the lady’s lavatory the place the battle occurred. Additionally they collected two swabs of stains from the lavatory and retrieved data and paperwork of the scholars concerned within the altercation.
Whereas the two-week-old warrant states that police have been in search of proof in a felony homicide, the division has since mentioned Benedict’s loss of life was not a results of accidents suffered within the battle, based mostly on the preliminary outcomes of the post-mortem.
The police division has mentioned it received’t remark additional on the teenager’s explanation for loss of life till toxicology and different post-mortem outcomes are accomplished.
Extra vigils are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in numerous Oklahoma cities and others have been held or are deliberate in a number of states, together with California, Washington, Minnesota, New Jersey, Texas and New York.
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