I have to admit that this story happened in my community. The little girl involved goes to the same school as a member of my family. I debated writing about it for a while, but when I saw a big name stepping up for her family, I decided to share.
Once upon a time, we used to joke that our little slice of the Atlanta area never made the local news, but sadly, in recent years that has changed, and it's usually not for the best of reasons. The most recent story to hit the headlines is that of Jada West.
On Thursday, March 5, the 12-year-old and another little girl were riding the bus home from their middle school and got into an argument. Once they got off the bus, the argument continued, and about a minute and a half after the bus left, the verbal disagreement turned into a physical altercation. Other kids recorded it, as they do these days, and the video is all over social media.
I've seen the video. From what I can tell, Jada tries to walk away and says she's not going to get into a fight "over some noise," but the argument continues. Eventually, despite their classmates screaming and trying to break it up, the two girls throw their backpacks down on the ground and start physically fighting each other. After a few seconds, they fall down in the road, and Jada lands on her back on the pavement with such force that she does a complete backflip, rolling over her own head and neck.
The other kids start screaming and run to help her up. She gets up and walks away and even picks up her backpack, and that's where the video ends. What it doesn't show is that Jada never made it home that day. She supposedly collapsed in the street while walking home. When paramedics arrived, an adult was there doing CPR. Jada was rushed to a nearby hospital. She was then transferred to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, but it wasn't enough. She apparently suffered a severe brain injury that led to cardiac arrest and a coma. She died about three days later. An autopsy is also pending.
Her parents and their attorneys say that Jada had just started at the school in January and that she'd been the subject of bullying ever since. They claim that this was all a part of that, and they're urging Georgia lawmakers to strengthen anti-bullying laws.
Local police are still trying to determine if anyone should be charged, and the school system said that while they're sorry it happened, it didn't happen on school property, so there's nothing they can do. There's also some question as to why the other little girl was let off the bus in that neighborhood, as she doesn't live there.
Jada was Rashunda McLendon's only child.
"I'm angry. We have to teach our children. I'm angry. What happened to the love? We lost our love, people. Teach your children to love," her mother said.
Her death hit the community hard. There's currently a makeshift memorial on the sidewalk near where the fight took place. I've seen so much chatter about it on social media and so many other parents are coming forward and saying that bullying has become a major issue here within the school system.
On Tuesday, the local sheriff's office announced that NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, who also serves as chief of community relations for the nearby Henry County Sheriff's Office, will ensure that Jada's family doesn't have any financial burden related to her death. He says he saw the story on the local news and felt the need to do something.
"This story touched my heart the moment I saw it in the media," he said. "As a father, my heart goes out to Jada's family. No parent should ever have to bury their child, and if there is anything I can do to ease even a small part of that burden, then it is the right thing to do. Our community must surround this family with love, support, and compassion during such a painful moment."
The Henry and Douglas County sheriffs will work with Shaq to ensure everything is taken care of. "When a child's life is taken so tragically, it affects all of us. Our goal is simple. We want Jada's family to know that they are not alone and that communities across Georgia stand with them during this incredibly difficult time," Douglas County's Tim Pounds said.
This isn't the first time the former NBA star has done such a thing. As People points out, he covered the funeral costs for a family in North Carolina who lost four young daughters in a house fire in September.
