The mother of a 10-year-old South Carolina girl who died after a school fight appeared on Good Morning America Monday (April 8) and said she blames the school for not properly protecting her child, despite having voiced her concern over her daughter’s safety.
“My frustration is really towards the school system because I sent my child to school feeling like she can be protected while she’s not in my care anymore,” Ashley Wright said.
Wright said she spoke with officials at Forest Hills Elementary School about her daughter being bullied, but when Raniya came home she said her teachers did nothing.
“I notified the school and I also spoke with her teacher at the time about this same person,” Wright told the morning show. “She would just always come home saying this one girl picking on her.”
Wright said her fourth-grade-daughter would often ask her grandmother who helped get her dressed for school if she could stay home.
School officials have reportedly released minimal details surrounding her daughter’s death. However, Raniya’s friend informed Wright “the bully had been bothering Niya all day, wanting to fight her.”
“They were in the class,” Wright said. “The girl came up behind her and was hitting her all in the head. How long, I don’t know. She pushed her or rammed her head or something into the bookshelf.”
The nurse called Wright around noon and said Raniya had “been in an accident, a fight” but was doing okay. The nurse said Raniya was doing fine at first but complained of dizziness. When her conditioned worsened, Wright didn’t get a phone call. Raniya was later airlifted to a local hospital where her mother was by her side before she died.
Raniya didn’t have any prior health issues.
“I had to sleep by my baby the night before she passed, and that was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life,” she said. “It’s just hard.”
