The family of Nex Benedict is speaking out about the incomplete and premature medical examiner report released earlier this week, and releasing new information they have learned from the medical examiner “to ensure that other pertinent portions of the report are not overshadowed by the ‘classification’ of Nex’s death.”
In the statement from their attorney, the Benedict family says they felt compelled to release the new information to avoid allowing “incomplete accounts to take hold and spread any further.”
GLAAD is elevating the family’s information and urging reporters to continue to ask more questions about Nex’s death and all that led up to it and after. Below, GLAAD has 16 key questions for reporters to ask about the medical examiner’s report, the history of controversy in the state medical examiner’s office including loss of accreditation, and ongoing questions about school and state leaders’ responsibility in failing to appropriately respond to the assault on Nex, the state-sponsored discrimination by harmful legislation and false rhetoric that remain safety issues for all Oklahoma students, and when or if officials are implementing any new measures to prevent, report and address bullying in Oklahoma schools.
Nex, a 16-year-old 2STGNC+ (Two Spirit, transgender, gender nonconforming+) student of Choctaw descent, died the day after a three-on-one fight in a restroom at Owasso High School in Owasso, Oklahoma last month. Nex had reported to police in the hospital following the attack that they had endured a year of bullying in the school, and that they did not believe the school would do anything to address the bullying. The Owasso police officer that the family, not the school, called to Nex’s emergency room bedside the night before Nex died, discouraged Nex’s family from filing a police report about the assault Nex endured in the school bathroom that afternoon.
On Wednesday, the medical examiner and Owasso police released a one-page document with a box checked for cause of death, noting “suicide” but revealing no details about how the medical examiner arrived at the decision to check the box, or about other determinative factors about Nex’s last hours including the bathroom assault. A full report is due on March 27th.
The Benedict family statement includes direct quotes from the report it received noting trauma to Nex’s head and neck, hemorrhages, scalp lacerations, as well as lacerations and bruising on the torso and extremities. The Benedict family statement further continues to call on schools, administrators, lawmakers, and communities to come together to prevent any other family from suffering a similar tragedy, including reforms in schools to prioritize “pillars of respect, inclusion and grace, and aim to eliminate bullying and hate.”
The Benedict family responded to the incomplete report in a statement from their attorney last night: “With each passing day, the numerous ongoing investigations surrounding Nex’s untimely passing yield additional information. Yesterday [March 13], a summary report from the Medical Examiner was released, simply stating that Nex’s death was caused by suicide. As the media and the public await the release of the full report, the Benedicts want to ensure that other pertinent portions of the report are not overshadowed by the ‘classification’ of Nex’s death. Rather than allow incomplete accounts to take hold and spread any further, the Benedicts feel compelled to provide a summary of those findings which have not yet been released by the Medical Examiner’s office, particularly those that contradict allegations of the assault on Nex being insignificant. As outlined in the full report, the Medical Examiner found numerous areas of physical trauma over Nex’s body that evidence the severity of the assault.”
GLAAD’s CEO and President Sarah Kate Ellis responded, “Nex’s family accurately notes how the report released this week does not reflect the full picture of what happened to Nex and continues to urge accountability of those who failed to keep Nex and all students in Oklahoma safe from bullying, harassment, assault, and most brutally, death.”
“Media must continue to question those who release information prematurely and incompletely in this investigation, and demand answers about the abysmal response to a horrific assault in a public school bathroom and the state-sponsored bullying that led up to it. Our hearts remain with Nex’s family as they endure their unbearable loss. All families deserve to know their children’s safety will always come first in their schools and communities.”
State and local equality groups in Oklahoma have also released their responses to the incomplete report and demands for full accountability for Nex’s death and the safety of all Oklahomans. See their statements released to state press this morning, here.
At the 35th annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles last night, GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis highlighted the epidemic of state-sponsored bullying via legislation targeting LGBTQ youth, including in Oklahoma:
“Over 500 anti-trans bills have been proposed nationwide this year. And it’s only March. It’s time to get the bullies out,” Ellis said.
In addition, GLAAD is releasing 16 Key Questions for reporters covering Nex Benedict’s death to ask of state, local and school officials:
1. Why is the police department rushing to release premature and incomplete information? As reported before, Owasso police have already rushed to release incomplete information about Nex’s death amid an ongoing investigation, admitting that doing so was not normal practice, and that it was to “head off” national scrutiny.
2. Why did the police not wait to release any information until the full investigation was completed and the full report is out, as already announced, on March 27th?
3. Why has the state medical examiner’s office been operating without accreditation for at least fourteen years?
4. As recently as nine months ago, the Tulsa office reported being significantly behind in cases and understaffed. How are these shortcomings impacting the investigation and rushed premature reports about Nex’s death?
5. What other scandals has the medical examiner’s office been implicated in? The Office has faced allegations of misconduct, incorrect death certificates, and more, from families of the deceased to former employees of the office.
6. When have Benadryl and Prozac ever been listed as a lethal combination?
In fresh and original reporting today, Christopher Wiggins of The Advocate spoke to Dr. Joshua King, medical director of the Maryland Poison Center at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, and Dr. Masha Yemets, a clinical toxicology fellow at the same institution, to gain insights into the risks associated with these medications in overdose scenarios.
“‘Without the full autopsy report and associated toxicology data, we couldn’t comment about the medical examiner’s determination,” Yemets cautioned — but they agreed that both of the medications reported to be in Benedict’s system are commonly taken and pose a low risk of dangerous interactions when used correctly. Diphenhydramine is an antihistamine taken for allergies and fluoxetine is used for depression and anxiety.”The medications are “part of a larger group of medications that, in the vast majority of cases, are used safely by millions of people. The risk of death from these medications, especially when used as directed, is extraordinarily low,” King added.
7. How did the medical examiner determine that these two common medications millions of Americans take were not ingested accidentally or improperly administered via medical providers who treated Nex the night before their death?
8. When did the medical examiner or police department review the records and interview medical center personnel from Nex’s visit the night before they died to determine what medications, dosages or other treatments and guidance were prescribed or given and when?
9. Why did the school not call police immediately after the assault in the school bathroom?
10. Where are the formal written protocols and policies that guided this non-response to an assault in which a student was beaten unconscious in a school bathroom?
11. What programs exist to prevent, report and address bullying in Owasso and all Oklahoma public schools? Where are the materials used to inform students and educators about bullying? If such a program exists, when was it created and initiated and by whom; when was the last time staff or students were briefed about bullying, including ways to prevent it, report it, and address it? How are schools familiarizing students and teachers with differences that are commonly targeted by bullies? What is being implemented today to stop bullying from happening again?
12. Have there been other attacks in schools on Indigenous or LGBTQ students? Where do these reports and documentation exist?
13. What correspondence has Owasso public schools had with Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters, about Nex’s death and next steps to prevent any more bullying or deaths of Owasso students?
14. When will Owasso and all public schools in Oklahoma update its bathroom policies and protocols to ensure all students, including Two Spirit, Transgender and Gender Nonconforming (2STGNC+) can simply use the bathroom they feel safest in?
15. Why does Superintendent Walters continue to deny the existence of transgender and gender nonconforming people, in a state whose Indigenous history and culture has long respected and honored Two Spirit people and expanded definitions of gender and gender expression? How does Superintendent Walters think his inaccurate statements and beliefs such as “there are only two genders” impact people of other faiths and Indigenous backgrounds who know and respect that transgender people and youth exist, attend Oklahoma public schools, and as taxpayers, pay Walters’ salary to represent and protect their families and children?
16. What other cases of the deaths of Indigenous and 2STGNC+ people has the medical examiner and police department handled? How do their families feel about state officials and department credibility and competency?
GLAAD is documenting Superintendent Walters’ record here, which includes:
- Falsely and harmfully denying the existence and history of Two Spirit and gender expansive people including among Indigenous cultures in his own state
- Pushing book bans, harassing educators who support the freedom to read, and appearing with extremist national book banning group Moms for Liberty, an appearance for which Walters billed Oklahoma taxpayers, and a post on Twitter/X just today with the cofounders of Moms for Liberty (ominously) saying “We’ve got plans.”
- Producing and promoting videos that wrongfully and dangerously accuse transgender youth of being a threat in schools
- Appointing to a state position a social media extremist whose posts have preceded bomb threats in Oklahoma schools, children’s hospitals, and libraries, who also has no educational qualifications and who does not live in Oklahoma
- Spreading disinformation about accurate inclusive history in his state, including about the Tulsa Massacre as a racist attack
Walters is also featured in a new report citing state records that show efforts to use Nex Benedict’s death to promote Walters’ profile, again using Oklahoma taxpayer dollars.
Walters’ anti-LGBTQ record and other leadership failures are chronicled in news reports and featured in an ad campaign currently airing in Oklahoma. (View/embed ad here.)
350+ groups signed an open letter urging full investigations of the bullying and death of Nex Benedict and accountability for Ryan Walters. Signatories include faith organizations, health care advocates, one of the world’s largest service unions, educational leaders, as well as LGBTQ, civil and human rights groups.