Did Bullying Lead Teen To Suicide?

November 17, 2009 6:25 AM

Will Carr

A family wants answers after they say bullying lead to their son's death. Seventeen year old Tyler Long committed suicide last month.

"He was my best friend, my role model, I looked to him for advice," Troy Long, Tyler's fourteen-year-old brother, says.

Troy says his older brother meant the world to his family. In sixth grade Tyler was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome - a form of autism that creates social disorder, but Tyler still managed to enjoy sports, video games, and his family.

"When Tyler smiled he just had that look like he was the best man around," Teryn Long, Tyler's sister, says.

But that smile died on October 17.

"I felt shocked, disbelief, it was like a part of me had vanished," Troy says.

"I got out of bed and I went in Tyler's room where David was and I saw him hanging there and I knew he had had enough," Tina Long, Troy's mother, says.

Tina tells us that she knew the seventeen-year-old had been bullied in the past and she had tried to warn Murray County High School administrators, but says things only got worse. She says the bullying got so bad that Tyler simply stopped talking about it until the day he died.

"There's a loss that I can never explain and I don't know how long it will be or how long it will be with us but I continue to see one image of Tyler and that's not the image I remember Tyler the most by," David Long, Tyler's Father, says.

Tyler's family says they want Murray County School officials to be held accountable for the bullying that they believe pushed Tyler into a corner.

"I think they killed my son, I think they led him to do what he did," Tina says.

While Tyler's parents continue to search for answers, his brother, who has a heart condition and has encountered brutal bullying himself, says he's learned to discuss his feelings openly.

"I wouldn't want my parents to go through it again, I wouldn't want Teryn to go through it again and I wouldn't like to go through it again because I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy," Troy says.

Tyler's family says since his death they have tried to talk with his teachers and the Murray County School Superintendent but have continue to be denied.

We contacted school system officials on Monday and offered them the chance to go on camera. Dean Donehoo, with the Murray County School System, provided the following statement:

"The Long family has suffered a terrible tragedy. The sympathies of the Murray County School System are extended to this family as they face this difficult time of loss. Under provisions of law, information about students and their schooling is strictly protected and confidential. While our sympathies extend to the family we simply cannot comment on any matters that are protected by legally imposed confidentialities."

Tyler's family is asking for anyone who saw him, or any other student, get bulled to come forward. They're asking you to call (706) 847 1452.

A fund has also been set up in Tyler's name and his family says the money will go to the Autism Speaks organization:

Comtrust Federal Credit Union
P.O. Box 737
Chatsworth, GA 30705
(706) 695-0377