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

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

Felicia LoAlbo-Melendez, 11, tragically hanged herself in the bathroom stall after years of intimidation and bullying about her appearance. Latina roots and “perceived sexual orientation” by students at the FW Holbein School in New Jersey.

Felicia was bullied and excluded “from activities she previously enjoyed” after she “advocated the position that love is love and that she could love someone else of the same or different gender,” according to the lawsuit filed by Law & Crime.

The lawsuit, filed by Felicia’s mother Elaina LoAlbo, alleges that a classmate, identified as CH, once poured water on Felicia’s chair as she got off her desk and shouted, “Look, who peed in her chair,” as Felicia pissed in her chair sat. the chair.

In another incident, a fellow student, identified as KS, deliberately placed chewing gum in Felicia’s hair and then cut her hair into clumps to remove the gum. the complaint says.

The filings name Mount Holly Schools Superintendent Robert Mungo, Principal Daniel Finn, counselors and teachers as accused of negligence and failing to protect her daughter from a “long, sustained period of bullying.”

The lawsuit alleges that nothing was done to help her sixth-grader, despite numerous emails being sent to school officials “about persistent and systemic bullying.”

The harassment reportedly 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 just days before his daughter’s suicide, the lawsuit said.

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

The complaint alleges that the school board had “actual and/or constructive knowledge that Felicia was being persistently bullied, tormented and harassed.”

The mother had “multiple communications with school authorities regarding the bullying her daughter endured during her fifth and sixth grade years.”

“Felicia’s mother, Mrs. LoAlbo, first contacted the school about her daughter being bullied in Felicia’s fifth grade year. In or about November December 2022, she filed additional complaints with Mr. Finn and Felicia’s counsel, Ms. Convery,” the lawsuit said.

“School officials promised to rearrange Felicia’s assigned classes in January 2023 to reduce contact with her bullies. However, these steps were never taken before her death.”

The lawsuit identifies students who bullied Felicia over the past two years as DA, AB, MB, CH, KS, SM and says some of the abuse occurred “via cell phone cyberbullying.”

The lawsuit also alleges that Felicia herself sent “multiple emails” to school officials about the bullying.

In one of the many emails Felicia sent, she suggested starting a “trauma club” where people would talk about the things they’ve been through.

She “accused the school of ‘breaking the laws,’ while school officials took no action on the complaints.”

The lawsuit also states that one student confirmed an incident in which Felicia was “pushed down by another student” on February 5.

Elaina said at a press conference: ‘She regularly came home crying. It just became unbearable there.”

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 said Felicia wanted to go to school and take part in a play.

“I never in a million years thought that day would have turned out like this,” Elaina told DailyMail.com.

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

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

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

The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said, “An autopsy conducted by the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office concluded the cause 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, revealed that she was alone in the restroom when this tragic action occurred.