Across the country, vigils were held for Nex Benedict, an Oklahoma nonbinary teenager who died this month after a fight in a high school bathroom.
As of Sunday, more than a dozen vigils have been scheduled across the country, with people already having gathered in Oklahoma since the 16-year-old died.
Joining those gathered at a vigil in Massachusetts at the Boston Common were LGBTQ+ and Indigenous community leaders who spoke in remembrance of the teen.
Reggie Alkiewicz, the Civic Engagement Coordinator at the North American Indian Center of Boston, says this is a stark reminder that LGBTQ+ and Indigenous youth need to be protected.
“May we remember Nex. May we fight like hell for you. May all our children from the river to the sea, to Turtle Island be able to grow old and grow safely,” Alkiewicz said, CBS News reported.
Benedict was a student at Owasso High School, where they were attacked by a group of girls after pouring water on them, according to a video where the teen told police, which was released on Friday.
The day after the fight at school, Benedict’s mother, Sue Benedict, was forced to call first responders after the teen started having trouble breathing, their eyes rolled back into their head, and their hands were curled, audio by the Owasso Police Department shared.
In the audio, you can hear Sue Benedict saying she wants to file charges. However, the officer who responded can be heard in the hospital video explaining that the teen started the altercation by throwing water. The office said this would lead the court to view it as a mutual fight.
A police search warrant shared that Benedict’s mother indicated to police on Feb. 7 that she didn’t want to press charges at the time but instead wanted police to speak to the school’s administration about issues on campus.
The Feb. 9 search warrant, filed on Feb. 21 in court, also shows that investigators had photographed the scene where the fight took place, taking 137 photographs at the school, including in the bathroom.
The warrant states that police were seeking evidence in a felony murder, but the department has since backtracked. Now, police are saying Benedict’s death was not a result of injuries they suffered during the fight, according to preliminary results of their autopsy.
The police are not commenting until the toxicology and autopsy results have been completed.
This week, vigils in California, Minnesota, Texas, New Jersey, Washington, and New York have been scheduled in remembrance of the teen.