Family of New Jersey bullying victim 11, sue school for failing to stop torment: Hanged herself in bathroom stall after being taunted for saying she could love person of either gender

•  Felicia LoAlbo-Melendez, 11, hanged herself in bathroom stall after years of harassment and bullying
• The wrongful death lawsuit, filed by Felicia’s mother, Elaina LoAlbo, reveals horrifying details about the bullying Felicia endured 

Terrifying details have been revealed by the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of the bullying victim against a New Jersey school board.  

Felicia LoAlbo-Melendez, 11, tragically hanged herself in bathroom stall after years of harassment and bullying about her appearance, Latina roots, and ‘perceived sexual orientation’ by students at the F.W. Holbein School in New Jersey.  

Felicia was bullied and excluded ‘from activities [she] previously enjoyed’ after she ‘advocated the position that love was love and that she could love another of the same or different gender,’ according to the lawsuit obtained by Law & Crime. 

The lawsuit, filed by Felicia’s mother Elaina LoAlbo, alleges that a classmate, identified as C.H., once poured water on Felicia’s chair when she stepped away from her desk and yelled out, ‘Look, who pissed in her chair,’ when Felicia sat in the chair. 

In another incident, a fellow student identified as K.S. purposely placed gum in Felicia’s hair and then cut her hair in clumps to remove the gum. the complaint says. 

Felicia LoAlbo-Melendez, 11, hanged herself in bathroom stall after years of harassment and bullying about her appearance, Latina roots, and ‘perceived sexual orientation’ by students at the F.W. Holbein School in New Jersey 

The lawsuit, filed by Felicia’s mother Elaina LoAlbo (right) , alleges that a classmate, identified as C.H., once poured water on Felicia’s chair when she stepped away from her desk and yelled out, ‘Look, who pissed in her chair,’ when Felicia sat in the chair  

In another incident, a fellow student identified as K.S. purposely placed gum in Felicia’s hair and then cut her hair in clumps to remove the gum. the complaint says 

Documents filed name Mount Holly school superintendent Robert Mungo, Principal Daniel Finn, counselors and teachers, who are accused of negligence and failing to protect her daughter from an ‘extended, persistent period of bullying’.

The lawsuit claims nothing was done to help her sixth-grader despite numerous emails being sent to school officials ‘regarding ongoing and systemic bullying’. 

The harassment allegedly included Felicia being harassed, taunted, called derogatory names and pushed down a flight of stairs. 

Felica’s father Alexis Melendez, a ‘highly decorated Newark Transit Detective, died quite suddenly’ of cancer, only days before the suicide of his daughter, the lawsuit says. 

The young girl hung herself in the school bathroom on February 6 and died two days later.

The complaint alleges the school board had ‘actual and/or constructive knowledge that Felicia had been and was continually being bullied, tormented and harassed’. 

The mother had ‘multiple communications with the school authorities relative to the bullying her daughter endured during her 5th and 6th grade school years,’ 

‘Felicia’s mother, Ms. LoAlbo first contacted the school about her daughter being bullied in Felicia’s Fifth grade year. In or about November, December 2022 she made additional complaints to Mr. Finn and Felicia’s counsellor, Ms. Convery,’ the lawsuit says. 

‘School Officials promised to re-arrange Felicia’s assigned classes in January 2023 to lessen contact with her bullies. However, these steps were never undertaken prior to her death.’ 

Speaking to DailyMail.com, LoAlbo couldn’t hold back her tears as she revealed her last conversation with her daughter on February 6, when she says Felicia was eager to go to school to participate in a play 

Felica’s father Alexis Melendez, a ‘highly decorated Newark Transit Detective, died quite suddenly’ of cancer, only days before the suicide of his daughter, the lawsuit says

The lawsuit states that the sixth-grader sent numerous emails to school officials ‘regarding ongoing and systemic bullying’, which involved her being harassed, taunted, called derogatory names and pushed down a flight of stairs but to no avail

The lawsuit identifies students who had bullied Felicia for the last two years as D.A., A.B., M.B., C.H., K.S., S.M. and says some of the abuse was ‘through cyberbullying by cell phones.’ 

The lawsuit also claims Felicia herself sent ‘multiple emails’ to school officials regarding the bullying. 

In one of the multiple emails Felicia sent, she suggested creating a ‘trauma club’ where people would talk about the things they have suffered through. 

She ‘accused the school of ‘breaking the laws” when school officials took no action in response to the complaints.’

The lawsuit also stated that one student corroborated an incident in which Felicia was ‘pushed downstairs by another student’ on February 5.

Elaina, said at a news conference: ‘She would come home crying on a regular basis. It just became intolerable there.’

In one of the multiple emails Felicia sent, she suggested creating a ‘trauma club’ where people would talk about the things they have suffered through

Felicia ‘accused the school of ‘breaking the laws” when school officials took no action in response to the complaints.’

Speaking to DailyMail.com, Elaina couldn’t hold back her tears as she revealed her last conversation with her daughter on February 6, when she says Felicia was eager to go to school to participate in a play.

‘I never in a million years would have thought that day would have turned out the way that it did’, Elaina told DailyMail.com.

‘I wanted her to stay home. I wanted to go get our nails done. And she came into my room that morning. Kissing me goodbye.

‘We had plans for her to stay home and she said, ‘No Mom, I miss too much school. I want to go and be in the play today’. 

‘She had a part in a play. I said ‘Okay, I love you.’ I kissed her. I asked her to take out the recycling and she skipped to school. It was a day like no other.’

Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said: ‘An autopsy performed by the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that the manner of death was suicide, and the cause of death was determined to be complications from hanging.

‘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.

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