Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd’s commented Tuesday on the arrest of two teens who bullied 12-year-old Florida girl Rebecca Ann Sedwick leading to her suicide in September, and the sheriff’s description of the bullies was shocking.
Fox 35’s Shannon Butler reported on Judd’s comments. He said one of the girls posted a message on Facebook saying she bullied Sedwick and she doesn’t care Sedwick killed herself.
One of the girls had no reaction at the arrest, the sheriff said.
“We rushed to make the arrest because we couldn’t leave her [the bully] out there,” he said.
The two girls arrested in relation to Sedwick’s suicide are 12 and 14 years old. The girls are facing felony charges for aggravated stalking.
Sedwick had received messages online such as “You should die,” and “Why don’t you go kill yourself,” according to NBC Miami. Her mother took her out of Crystal Lake Middle School and home-schooled her before enrolling her in Lawton Chiles Middle Academy this year, reports Fox Tampa Bay. The bullying followed her online, however. The girls called her ugly among other insults. Some 15 teens were suspected of bullying her.
She climbed a tower at an abandoned concrete plant and jumped to her death.
Before she died, she had changed her name on a mobile phone application to “That Dead Girl.” She also sent a message to a friend saying she couldn’t take it anymore and she was going to jump.
On July 1, schools in Florida were given the power to address cyberbullying that occurs outside of school. A memorial website for Sedwick notes: “Each day it becomes evident schools cannot handle this alone.”
