A young girl’s death by suicide is being investigated by school police after her mother says she was bullied by other students who hurled insults at her, claiming her family was in the US illegally.
Eleven-year-old Jocelynn Rojo Carranza died on February 8 – five days after her mother found her unresponsive at their home in Gainesville, Texas, according to an online obituary. Her funeral took place Wednesday morning.
“All week I’ve been waiting for a miracle – waiting for my daughter to get better,” her mother Marbella Carranza told CNN affiliate KUVN. “But unfortunately there was nothing that could be done.”
Jocelynn was bullied and taunted at school over her family’s immigration status, Carranza told KUVN.
“They were going to call immigration so they could take her parents away and she would be left alone,” Carranza said. She did not address the immigration status of the family in her interview with KUVN.
Jocelynn attended Gainesville Intermediate School, according to KUVN.
Carranza claims her daughter’s school was aware of the alleged bullying but did not tell her, and she only learned her daughter had been receiving counseling at school when investigators told her, Carranza told KUVN. CNN has reached out to the school for comment.
“It appears the school was aware of it all, but they never, they never told me what was happening with my daughter,” Carranza said. “It appears she would go once or twice a week to counseling to report what was happening.”
“(I want) justice because it’s not fair – the school was negligent for not keeping me informed of what was going on with my daughter,” she added.
An investigation is underway, Gainesville police said in a statement referring calls to the Gainesville Independent School District Police, which is investigating the bullying allegations.
The Gainesville Independent School District did not acknowledge whether it was aware of reports of bullying against Jocelynn.
“Whenever we receive a report of bullying, we respond swiftly to ensure all students are safe physically and emotionally. While we cannot release any information about specific students or incidents, our schools have several policies in place to combat bullying and resolve conflicts,” the district told CNN in a statement.
Another school in the district called the incident a “serious accident” in an email to parents that did not address the bullying allegations.
Carranza described the day she found her daughter, on February 3, to KUVN.
“When I got home, they were still working on her, trying to revive her, she had been without life for a long time,” she said.
Family and friends mourn Jocelynn’s death
Hundreds of friends and family members, including many children, packed St. Mary Catholic Church on Wednesday to attend Jocelynn’s funeral. A group of mourners wore white sweatshirts with the young girl’s picture emblazoned on it, while others wore pastel shades of blue, lavender or pink in her honor.
During the service, her loved ones could be heard crying as a mariachi band in the balcony of the church played somber music. In the same church where Jocelynn was baptized 11 years ago, her casket laid draped in a white cloth with a crucifix on top.
Carranza said Jocelynn told her every day that she loved her.
“I remember her fondly because she was a very happy girl, she was a joyful girl,” she said.
Jocelynn is remembered as “a wonderful daughter, sister, niece and friend to everyone,” in the online obituary.
She played the French horn, made TikTok videos, swam, did cartwheels and spent Friday nights watching movies with her family, according to the obituary.
“She loved when her grandma took her to get her nails done,” the obituary reads.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
