The death of a nonbinary student one day after a fight inside an Oklahoma high school bathroom has led to national outcry and White House condemnation.

Owasso police say the investigation into 16-year-old Nex Benedict’s death on February 8 is ongoing, with the state medical examiner’s office ruling it a suicide. Family members have said that their child was a victim of bullying at the school because Nex identified as nonbinary, neither male nor female. A complete report on Benedict’s death is scheduled to be released on March 27. 

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the preliminary autopsy report from the podium at Friday’s press briefing, calling Benedict’s death “devastating.” 

“As the president said yesterday, every young person deserves to have the fundamental right and freedom to be who they are and feel safe and supported at school and in their communities,” Jean-Pierre said. “Bullying is completely unacceptable, and it is on all of us to take reports of bullying seriously.” 

CDC data previously revealed that 57% of high school girls have experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. (iStock)

The Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s report said the teen died from a combined overdose of Prozac and Benadryl. The fight in the school bathroom happened on the previous day. 

In video footage from the hospital on the day of the altercation, February 7, Nex tells a police officer that the teen and a friend group were the subject of ridicule over the way they dressed. Benedict, who preferred they/them pronouns, claims that in the bathroom the students said “something like: Why do they laugh like that?” referring to Nex and friends.

“And so I went up there and I poured water on them, and then all three of them came at me,” the teen tells the officer from a hospital bed.

“They came at me. They grabbed on my hair. I grabbed onto them. I threw one of them into a paper towel dispenser, and then they got my legs out from under me and got me on the ground,” the teen says in the video, according to the Associated Press. 

The students allegedly beat the teen to the point of blacking out. 

The next day, paramedics responded to a 911 call at the Benedict family’s house and performed CPR on an unresponsive Nex before rushing her to the hospital, where the teen later died.

On Thursday, the day after Nex’s death was ruled a suicide, the White House released a statement saying that President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were “heartbroken” by the loss. 

“Every young person deserves to have the fundamental right and freedom to be who they are, and feel safe and supported at school and in their communities. Nex Benedict, a kid who just wanted to be accepted, should still be here with us today,” Biden said. 

The president called on the nation to stand in solidarity with nonbinary and transgender people and “recommit to our work to end discrimination and address the suicide crisis impacting too many nonbinary and transgender children.”

“Bullying is hurtful and cruel, and no one should face the bullying that Nex did. Parents and schools must take reports of bullying seriously,” Biden said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.