‘Child of joy’ who hanged herself after schoolyard fight video circulated on social media is a victim of ‘Bullycide,’ say her heartbroken parents

A 10-year-old girl who hanged herself after being bullied has died after she was removed from life support.

The New York Daily News reports that Ashawnty Davis died on Wednesday after she was hospitalized on life support for two weeks. Ashwanty, of Aurora, Colorado, had reportedly confronted a school bully in late October, and the incident was caught on video.

The reported fistfight took place outside Sunrise Elementary while a group of students gathered around to witness it.

According to KDVR, the video made its way to the social media app Musical.ly.

“She was devastated when she found out that it had made it to Musical.ly,” her father, Anthony Davis, told the news station.

“I saw my daughter was scared,” said Ashawnty’s mother Latoshia Harris.

“My daughter came home two weeks later and hanged herself in the closet.”

Ashwanty’s parents consider their daughter a victim of “Bullycide,” a term used to describe a suicide that is the result of bullying.

Before the incident, her father said Ashwanty had been a “child of joy.”

Despite their heartbreak, Ashwanty’s parents say they want their daughter’s tragic story to be a warning about the grave threat of bullying, and chose the share the video of the fight with the news station.


 

“I want other parents to know that it’s happening,” the little girl’s mother told KDVR.

“That was my baby and I love my baby and I just want mothers to listen.”

 

Feature image: KDVR video screenshot/Ashwanty Davis