10-Year-Old Houston Boy Dead after Relentless Bullying at School, Grieving Mom Says

A ten-year-old boy in Houston committed suicide after facing relentless bullying at school, and now his mother is speaking out.

Kevin Reese Jr., a fifth-grade student at Robinson Elementary School, took his life on January 21 after enduring countless incidents of bullying, ABC 13 reports. His mother, Crystal Smith, who described her son as a “goofy child,” knew about the bullying.

Screenshot of Kevin Reese Jr’s picture. | Photo: ABC13 News

"They wrote on his tablet to ‘kill yourself; you don't belong here,'" Smith said. "When it got physical back in November, he came home crying because he didn't fight back and one of the boys punched him several times coming from recess."

"Pay attention to your child, don't assume that things are handled at the school."

The devastated mom told the news outlet that she reached out to a school official once about the bullying. According to a voicemail left by the official, they looked into the matter but said the other boy denied there had been a physical fight.

“I just thought he was handling the situations,” Smith lamented. Unfortunately, Reese wasn’t, and after getting off the school bus with his 13-year-old sister on January 21, he hung himself in the closet.

Reese’s mother was out of town for work, and his stepdad was not home either. When Smith got a frantic call from her daughter, she told the teenager to cut her brother down and call 911.

Screenshot of Crystal Smith, Kevin Reese Jr’s mom. | Photo: ABC13 News

Sadly, they were too late. A sorrowful Smith confessed:

"I never thought he would go this far never. I'm still in disbelief and it's taking me a while to actually accept the fact that this happened."

She reached out to the school again following the horrible tragedy but was told the school never found any bullying going on.

Smith, who has decided to leave her son’s room as it was before his death, is now creating awareness about children and suicide and why parents must do more to curb the menace.

"Pay attention to your child, don't assume that things are handled at the school, stay on top of it until you see something come out on the end."

Incidents of children committing suicide are becoming alarmingly rampant. In 2019 alone, there’s been the case of 13-year-old Michael Martin committing suicide after being bullied for months on the school bus.

There was also ten-year-old Ashawnty Davis who hung herself in a closet, Seven Bridges, also ten, who took his life after enduring taunts over his colostomy bag, and 13-year-old Aaron Fuller who hung himself with a belt in his bedroom after bullies told him to kill himself.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org.

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