Mount Holly resident Elaina LoAlbo said her daughter Felicia LoAlbo-Melendez died by suicide after being found on Feb. 6 at her middle school.
Although officials did not name LoAlbo-Melendez, they confirmed a student at F. W. Holbein School found another student unresponsive in a closed stall in the school’s restroom on Feb. 6, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
After being taken to a local hospital, the student was transferred to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and pronounced dead two days later, officials said.
Medical examiners confirmed the cause of death was suicide and no foul play was involved, according to the prosecutor’s office.
“An investigation into the student’s death by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, which included a review of the school’s surveillance cameras, determined that she was alone in the restroom when this tragic action occurred,” the office said.
Felicia —whose death came less than two weeks after her father, NJ Transit Detective Alexis Melendez, died from cancer— was getting bullied at the school, according to her mother.
A week before her death, Felicia emailed F. W. Holbein School administration and told them that she and her friends were being bullied and that the school was “breaking the laws” by not taking action, according to LoAlbo.
“She herself had written numerous emails to the administration detailing the events, yet no one was ever questioned,” LoAlbo said on Saturday after expressing concerns about the prosecutor’s office not investigating further into the bullying Felicia was experiencing.
“They have swept under the rug, the bullying that she and so many other kids in that school have encountered and now they’re doing the same with this investigation,” LoAlbo said.
Getting bullied can be a traumatic event that can unlock feelings of fear and isolation, as well as a lack of belonging, said Maureen Brogan, a licensed professional counselor who leads the Traumatic Loss Coalitions for Youth at Rutgers University.
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