The mother of Nex Benedict — the non-binary Oklahoma teen who was assaulted in a school bathroom and died the following day — is raising doubts about statements released by the local police. On Wednesday, the Owasso Police posted a statement to the department’s Facebook page, which appeared to defend the Owasso High School’s response to the February 7 incident. The statement also suggested that Nex’s death the following day was unrelated to the bathroom assault. In a text exchange with Popular Information, Sue Benedict, Nex’s mother, said she considered the Owasso Police statement a “big cover” and believed it was only released as “something to calm the people.”
Accountability needs to stop being optional.
Any public official who lies to the public willingly needs to be given the death penalty. All of the officials who refused to act on credible reports should be tried with negligent homicide.