NEW JERSEY — Elaina Loalbo was emotional as she listened to a voice memo left by her 11-year-old daughter, Felicia LoAlbo-Melendez.
“Never, ever, ever be a bully,” the girl says in the memo. “Never be a tyrant. Or no one will talk to you. But I don’t want that.”
On February 6, Felicia’s body was found in a bathroom at FW Holbein High School in Mount Holly, New Jersey. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging. It happened two weeks after her father died of pancreatic cancer.
In an exclusive interview with NBC10, Loalbo said her daughter had been bullied for years, including the last two years at Holbein.
“They called her hairy. She wasn’t hairy,” Loalbo said. “They called her gay. They called her directly. They called her bi. They called him all kinds of things.
Loalbo thinks his daughter’s death could have been avoided.
“My daughter was tortured within the walls of this school,” he said.
Loalbo told NBC10 that she reported the harassment to Holbein directors four times in person. She also said her daughter had sent a dozen emails to her school counselor, including one just four days before she died.
“She tells her teachers. Teachers witnessed most of the physical altercations that happened in classrooms and on school trips,” LoAlbo said.
NBC10 has reached out to the Mount Holly Township School District. They declined to comment on LoAlbo’s claims, although the superintendent released a statement.
“The district has cooperated fully, including providing surveillance footage and all documents related to the investigation,” the director wrote. “We are committed to a culture that engages our entire school community to make our schools safe for all students. »
Following an investigation into the girl’s death, the Burlington County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the case. Bureau investigators said security footage showed Felicia alone inside the bathroom and determined there was no foul play.
“The investigation is complete and arrangements will be made in the near future for Ms. LoAlbo to view the footage,” a spokesperson wrote.
However, LoAlbo believes more needs to be done.
“I think the school has continued to sweep the bullying cases under the rug, just like they did for my daughter before she died,” he said.
LoAlbo wants his daughter’s alleged stalkers to be questioned and considered possible factors in her death.
“My next steps will be so that no other parent has to struggle like me and no other child has to suffer like my daughter,” she said.
LoAlbo said he will eventually take legal action against the school, but he hopes something will change in the meantime.
If you need to know that you need help, communicate with the direct national line of suicide prevention to 1-800-273-8255, or communicate with the crisis text line, send a text message to “Inicio” al 741741, en whenever.