A 12-year-old Las Vegas girl took her own life after being tormented by bullies at her school for months.
Flora Martinez, a sixth grader at Keller Middle School, killed herself on May 7 – eight months and one day after her transfer out of Duane D. Keller middle school was denied.
Her funeral was on Thursday, May 16.
Her parents are now blaming the Clark County School District for not doing enough to protect their daughter.
Her mother, Alice Martinez told News8: “I feel like the school had a duty to keep her safe, while she was in their care and they just failed miserably.”
The young girl’s parents said their daughter’s mates started bullying her early into the school year. Flora’s mother claimed both she and her child approached the assistant principal for help.
The mom then submitted paperwork for her daughter’s transfer out of the middle school, but her request was denied in October.
Flora’s mother said she had taken her daughter out of school for two weeks early in the school year when the bullying began, but when she returned to school it intensified.
“Everybody that had a hand in that request to transfer her failed her. If you’re a parent and you’re not outraged by this, you’re part of the problem too,” Martinez said.
Flora’s dad Joshua Parker said: “This wasn’t just one incident that happened, and you know, she decided to take her life. \
“This was months and months and months of bullying that built up, and finally, she just couldn’t take it no more.”
The heartbroken father added: “Look how hard it was on my daughter. My daughter was literally bullied to death.”
Flora’s parents described their daughter as artistic. Someone who was full of life, and empathetic who loved ice cream and seafood.
The tragic tale comes just days after a 10-year-old boy, Sammy Teusch, killed himself in Indiana on March 5 following relentless bullying at school about his teeth and glasses.
His parents from Greenfield said they complained to his school repeatedly but were ignored. His funeral was on Tuesday, May 14, and attended by hundreds.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has released CCTV footage and images of a suspect linked to a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington.
The released video, shared shortly before the President spoke to the press, reportedly shows the suspect entering the ballroom of the Washington Hilton and bypassing a security metal detector before armed security personnel moved in to intercept him.
Trump described the individual as a “would-be assassin,” alleging that he was heavily armed and managed to breach a key security checkpoint.
According to BBC reporting, the President said the suspect forced his way past screening procedures while carrying multiple weapons.
Photographs also released by the President show a shirtless man lying face down in a lobby area with his hands restrained behind his back, believed to be the suspect involved.
Authorities confirmed that the suspect is now in custody. Trump also stated that a law enforcement officer was shot during the incident but survived due to wearing a bulletproof vest.
The shooting occurred on Saturday night during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, an annual event attended by journalists, government officials, and other dignitaries.
The incident caused panic at the venue, leading to the evacuation of guests and officials.
Investigations are ongoing to determine the motive behind the attack and how the security breach occurred.
Iran has confirmed a two-week ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, the Tasnim news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported early on Wednesday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz would be possible for two weeks in coordination with Iran’s armed forces “and with due consideration of technical limitations.”
Trump had made reopening the waterway a condition for the ceasefire and had threatened to target Iran’s energy sector and infrastructure, including bridges, if Tehran failed to comply, setting a deadline of 0000 GMT.
The Strait of Hormuz, crucial to global oil and gas trade, has been largely closed since the United States and Israel launched large-scale attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.
According to a senior U.S. official, Israel will also adhere to what Trump described as a “double sided CEASEFIRE.”
Pakistan, which has mediated between Tehran and Washington, said that an immediate ceasefire between Iran and the US had taken effect.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on X that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the U.S., along with their allies, had agreed to an “immediate ceasefire everywhere,” including in Lebanon.
“I warmly welcome the sagacious gesture and extend deepest gratitude to the leadership of both the countries and invite their delegations to Islamabad on Friday … to further negotiate for a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes,” Sharif said.
Trump earlier said Sharif had asked him to refrain from carrying out the threatened attacks.
The U.S. has received a 10-point proposal from Iran and believed it offered a “workable basis” for negotiations, Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social.
According to The New York Times, the plan calls for lifting all sanctions imposed on Iran. (dpa/NAN)
An earthquake that struck Afghanistan overnight killed eight members of the same family in Kabul province, the health ministry said on Saturday.
The 5.8-magnitude quake struck at 8.42 pm (1612 GMT) on Friday at a depth of 186 kilometres (115 miles) at the epicentre in northeastern Badakhshan province, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
Shaking was felt in multiple parts of the country, including the capital Kabul, according to AFP journalists.
“In the Gosfand Dara area of Kabul Province, eight members of a family died as a result of the earthquake,” Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said in a message to media.
He added that a child aged around two years old was the only survivor from the household and the country’s disaster management agency said the boy had been injured in the tremor.
Afghanistan is frequently jolted by earthquakes, particularly along the Hindu Kush mountain range near where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet.
In August, a shallow magnitude 6 earthquake wiped out mountainside villages and killed more than 2,200 people in eastern Afghanistan, making it the deadliest tremor in the country’s recent history.
