School district confirms bullying occurred after investigation following Texas girl’s death by suicide

By Dalia Faheid and Hanna Park, CNN

(CNN) — A Texas school district has released a summary of its investigation following 11-year-old Jocelynn Rojo Carranza’s death by suicide, but questions remain about the events leading up to her death.

The story has made national headlines – amid the nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration, after her mother claimed that Jocelynn was bullied and taunted at school over her family’s immigration status.

Jocelynn died on February 8 – five days after her mother found her unresponsive at their home in Gainesville, Texas, around 70 miles north of Dallas.

Police have not released any details regarding the investigation into her death.

Jocelynn reported to her principal on January 30 that a student on her bus made remarks about deportation and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement targeting a group of Hispanic students, the Gainesville Independent School District (GSID) said in a statement released Wednesday, detailing its findings from an investigation.

The district’s transportation director submitted a referral to the school confirming the student’s remarks reported by Jocelynn, noting they “were directed at a group of Hispanic students and not” to her, the district said. While she “was not seated with the group,” she “was close enough to hear the remarks.” The investigation also found “this was not a one-time occurrence.”

“Following this, JRC appeared to have a positive remainder of the week and attended a birthday party on Saturday. Witness statements from attendees indicated that she was in good spirits and enjoyed the event,” reads the report.

The district did not provide additional details about the alleged bullying incident.

The district said the student responsible for the remarks was identified, interviewed and disciplined.

“Prior to JRC’s hospitalization, no official bullying report had been filed with the school that would have triggered the district’s bullying investigation protocols, which include student interviews, parent contact and disciplinary action,” the district’s report said.

Another concern emerged during student interviews, the district said.

“It was reported by multiple students that JRC told them that she had been inappropriately touched by a family member and wished to keep this a secret to avoid getting them in trouble,” the report states.

The district told Child Protective Services about these reports, and the agency is investigating, the district’s statement notes. CNN has reached out to CPS.

“Furthermore, it was disclosed that JRC had previously expressed thoughts of selfharm to a cousin, who informed JRC’s mother,” the statement added. The district said that this information was never shared with school officials, preventing them from providing resources or intervening.

CNN has tried to reach Jocelynn’s mother, Marbella Carranza for comment. She responded to the district’s report in an interview with local Dallas television station KDFW.

“Nothing about that is true,” she said.

Carranza denied the district’s finding of an abuse allegation to KDFW.

“I don’t know why they committed, like, why he said that, because I talk with my daughter about that, always. I ask. Nobody can touch your body. Nobody,” Carranza said.

Carranza said she hired a lawyer and will wait to respond to the district.

CNN has contacted the Gainesville Independent School District and Jocelynn’s family for comment on the district’s report.

The district says it launched an internal investigation into bullying on February 6, after students reported concerns involving Jocelynn and her brother the day before, after the girl’s family informed them, she had been hospitalized.

According to the school district, in an earlier meeting with a school counselor in October, Jocelynn “did not report any bullying,” the report said, although since October she attended seven sessions of “social-emotional learning” led by a district counselor. She was selected for this group, according to the report, based on the “Youth Needs Screener,” an “evidence-based self-reporting assessment used to evaluate students’ social-emotional needs.”

Carranza previously told CNN that her daughter was bullied and taunted at school over her family’s immigration status. Carranza claimed in an interview with CNN affiliate KUVN that 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.

“They said it had been due to bullying, but I never knew anything about it,” she said.

The district’s report acknowledged the mother’s assertion she was unaware her daughter’s work with the school counselor, but said it had “a signed permission slip authorizing her involvement.”

According to Carranza, a student taunted Jocelynn, claiming her family would be deported and she would be left behind.

Carranza has told CNN that her daughter was born in the US.

“We don’t know if she made the decision in fear of being alone … Or if she had been told to do it, so that she would not be left alone,” Carranza told CNN shortly after her daughter’s funeral.

“These are unanswered questions that I still have, why, why did she do it.”

The case has drawn widespread attention, raising concerns about the school’s handling of the situation and the broader issue of bullying tied to immigration under Donald Trump’s presidency.

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CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas, Ed Lavandera and Ashley Killough contributed to this report.