The grieving mother of a 12-year-old girl who died after getting into a fight with another student when getting off the school bus has recalled the sickening moment she discovered her daughter lying motionless on the ground.
Jada West’s friend ran to find the girl’s mother, Rashunda McClendon, after she collapsed in the street following the savage brawl at a bus stop near her home in Villa Rica, just outside Atlanta, Georgia.
“I got in the car and drove up there, and she was on the ground. She wasn’t breathing,” a visibly emotional Rashunda told WSB-TV.
Grim cellphone footage shows Jada — who had reportedly been the victim of bullying since recently transferring to Mason Creek Middle School — fighting with another girl before slamming into the ground and at one point losing consciousness.
“Nobody tried to stop it. No one tried to call the police and stop it,” Rashunda said of her daughter, who she claims had been bullied.
Jada was taken to Tanner Medical Center, where she experienced seizures, suffered from cardiac heart failure, and died on Saturday.
Her family says it wants justice.
“It’s not right that this little girl and the other kids get to go to school. My niece is not here anymore. My niece was in the hospital with a tube in her throat,” Jada’s aunt, Dequala McClendon, told WSB-TV.
Villa Rica Police Department did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
The Douglas County School System said in a statement Monday that it is leaving the investigation to the police.
“This incident did not occur on school property or during school hours, and there is nothing to indicate that this is related to any on-campus activity. Therefore, this matter is under the jurisdiction of the Villa Rica Police Department,” the statement read.
Counselors were made available for students and staff on Tuesday.
