Teen Takes Life After School Attack
A 17-year-old high-school student took his own life October 13 — hours after being attacked by five classmates after school.
Terrel Williams, a student at Clover Park High School, was reportedly attacked by five classmates hours before his mother found his body hanging in a closet at their family's vacation home in Lakewood, Wash., according to LGBTQNation.
Cheryl Williams, the boy's mother, wrote on Twitter Wednesday, "My son meant the world, and high school bullies pushed him over the edge. I hope and pray, that no other child ever has to go through what he did. Bullying isn’t worth it. Why can’t people just be nice?"
Before taking his life, Williams wrote a note, saying that coming out and his relationship with his boyfriend, Daric Rawr, were some of the best things in his life. The couple would have celebrated their seventh anniversary together this Saturday, the same day as Williams's 18th birthday.
"I'm sorry to my immediate loved ones, but I feel suicide is the only way out," Williams wrote in a letter he left behind. "Today, was the record worst day of my life, some kids at school stole some of my stuff that I got from people I really cared about, and that really pushed me over the top, next to being shoved into a wall, and my ribs being broken."
According to LGBTQNation, Rawr said of Williams, “He loved life, but felt the need to take it, because [the bullying] didn’t stop ... respectful, whole-hearted people like Terrel, and the growing number of others, shouldn’t have to feel suicide is the answer, because bullies won’t stop.”