9-year-old reportedly kills himself 2 years after mother’s suicide
ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Ill. (KMOV.com) — An investigation is underway after a 9-year-old boy reportedly killed himself in the Metro East.
The St. Clair County Coroner’s Office confirmed the boy died from an apparent hanging in a Brooklyn, Illinois apartment.
As word spread through the Thomas Terry apartment complex about the boy’s death, dozens of neighbors came out of their homes to console each other.
Many were hugging and crying.
They tried to console the boy’s father as he walked around the complex, seemingly in shock, dealing with the loss.
“I’m still trying to take in what’s happening, get the particulars, because I don’t know everything,” said E.J. Johnson, the boy’s great uncle.
Police on the scene said they are looking at the suicide as a possible result of bullying, but it was early in the investigation. The Belleville News Democrat spoke to a family member who said the boy accidentally suffocated while doing a social media challenge.
Research from the CDC showed in 2007, suicides among children age 10 to 14 were declining.
Then, over the next decade, the numbers nearly tripled. Now, suicide is one of the leading causes of death for children in that age range, thanks in part to social media increasing bullying’s prevalence.
It’s easier, it’s meaner and there are fewer consequences for the bullying because it can be done in private,” said Jessie Vance, a child counselor with Provident Crisis Services.
The family told News 4 the boy’s mother committed suicide two years ago.
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