10 year old Aquan Lewis found hung in Evanston, IL school bathroom. Ruled suicide.

I was surfing the net and found a blurb about this in Essence and did some more research.

Look at that precious face. This is the phone call no parent wants to hear from their child’s elementary school…their son has been found dead by apparent suicide.  Aquan Lewis was only 10 years old which begs the question as to what was going on in this little boy’s life.  Was it truly a suicide?  Was he being bullied?  Were there troubles at home or outside of the school setting?  Were there warning signs left unnoticed?  Unfortunately, some of those answers may never fully be explained.  My heart goes out to his family and the Oakton Elementary School community.

The best article I could find on this was from Chicago Breaking News.  Here are some excerpts.

SOURCE: EVANSTON PUPIL THREATENED SUICIDE

Scolded by a teacher, Aquan Lewis responded with a threat to kill himself the
same day his body was discovered, said sources familiar with the
investigation.

The 5th grader hanged himself Tuesday afternoon by his shirt collar on a hook in an Oakton Elementary School restroom stall where a footprint
was found on a toilet, a source said.

Aquan of the 8600 block of Trumbull Avenue in Skokie died early
Wednesday, hours after he was found unresponsive in the boys  restroom.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office ruled the death a suicide by
hanging…

…”This underscores the need for teachers and school administrators
and anyone who works with kids to pay attention to what children tell
them,” said Ronald Davidson, a faculty member in the University of
Illinois at Chicago’s department of psychiatry.

Child suicides are “very rare” and do not usually occur in a public
place like a school, said Dr. Paula Clayton of the American Foundation
for Suicide Prevention.

From the Chicago Tribune…

PRELIMINARY FINDING: SCHOOLBOY’S DEATH SUICIDE

Aquan was found unresponsive in a bathroom at Oakton Elementary
about 3 p.m. Tuesday. School janitor Elliott Lieteau said the child
had been pulled off a hook. He was pronounced dead Wednesday
morning…

…Lieteau said when he entered the restroom the boy was on the
floor, but he said the child had been pulled off a hook. Lieteau
said he then performed CPR.

School officials still are trying to determine when the boy left
his class to go to the bathroom, said Superintendent Hardy Murphy.
There are no security cameras inside the school.

…Many students were frightened Tuesday as news spread that a
classmate was seriously hurt and rumors spread that he might have
been killed, Barrera said.

“I was scared that nothing would happen to me or my friends,”
he said.

Talk to me, readers.  This post warrants some healthy discussion.

Why didn’t anyone notice that he had been gone for so long?

Will any of the faculty been held accountable?

SEE MY LATEST POST- https://affrodite.net/?p=396

02.05.o9 UPDATE

Here are some additional links.  I hope to parse through them and post some excerpts of significance tomorrow.

The news is spreading, and thanks to you all who have visited this post and commented, you have directly helped to shed a spotlight on this story.  At the same time, if you do a google search on “Aquan Lewis” there still isn’t as much popping up as I’d hope.

I don’t know this family at all, but reading the story just touched my heart to see such a young soul leave the earth this way, and it has clearly touched yours as well.

Huffington Post– AQUAN LEWIS: 10 YEAR OLD’S SCHOOL DEATH RULED SUICIDE

ABC News– FAMILY UPSET WITH SUICIDE RULING IN 10 YEAR OLD’S DEATH

my own CNN iReport (same as this post)– http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-208334

02.06.09 UPDATE

BET has finally got on the bus with the story.

BET- BOYS BODY FOUND HANGING FROM HOOK