It has now been two weeks since news of the death of 16-year-old Nex Benedict gripped the nation. The high school student died Feb. 8, a day after they were assaulted by three female students in the bathroom at Owasso High School in Owasso, Oklahoma.
Last week, News is Out wrote about the incident and we now have new updates to share.
[Editor’s note: Nex’s friends have revealed that Nex used he/him and they/them pronouns but preferred he/him. News is Out will alternate the use of they/them and he/him when referring to Nex. Also note that in the hospital video and 911 call, Nex is referred to with she/her pronouns, something Sue Benedict addressed in a statement through her legal representative.
“We at this time are thankful for the ongoing support and did not expect the love from everyone. We are sorry for not using their name correctly and as parents we were still learning the correct forms. Please do not judge us as Nex was judged, please do not bully us for our ignorance on the subject. Nex gave us that respect and we are sorry in our grief that we overlooked them. I lost my child, the headstone will have the correct name of their choice.” ]
The hospital video
Owasso police released a bodycam video Friday, Feb. 24, where an officer responded to a call by Nex’s mother, Sue Benedict. In the video, Nex and Sue Benedict described the assault and events leading up. Sue Benedict shares that Nex had informed her that the three female students had been calling Nex and his friends names and throwing objects at them. When asked by the officer if Nex has ever contacted school administration about the bullying, they responded, “I didn’t really see the point in it. I told my mom though.”
Nex then shared information about the bathroom assault. Nex states that after hearing the three students making fun of Nex and a friend, Nex squirted water on the students.
“And so I went up there, and I poured water on them, and then all three of them came at me,” Nex told the officer. “They came at me. They grabbed onto my hair. I grabbed onto them. I threw one of them into a paper towel dispenser and then they got my legs out from under me, got me on the ground and started beating the shit out of me. Then my friends tried to jump in and help but I’m not sure. I blacked out.”
When discussing filing charges against the three female students, the officer tells Nex and Sue Benedict that the assault charges would also be against Nex because “(She) first assaulted. (She) was the one who initiated it essentially because you got freedom of speech.”
The 911 call
On Feb. 8 at 1 p.m. Central, Sue Benedict called 911 and described Nex as posturing, often used to describe a physical response to brain injury or trauma. Sue Benedict shares that Nex had hit their head during the bathroom assault the day prior.
In the recording, Sue Benedict tried to explain to the operator that Nex has been complaining of a headache, but the operator cuts her off, saying, “This is information I don’t need. I need to know if (she’s) breathing OK and stuff like that.” Sue Benedict described Nex as breathing but in a labored way and that Nex’s eyes were rolled up.
“Oh gosh, I hope this ain’t from (her) head,” Sue Benedict said near the end of the 911 call. “They’re supposed to have checked (her) out.”
An ambulance arrived and took Nex to Bailey Medical Center, and they died later that day.
Nex remembered and honored across the country in vigils
People gathered over the weekend from Owasso, Oklahoma to Providence, Rhode Island to celebrate and remember Nex Benedict.
In Owasso, former teacher Tyler Wrynn, who left his teaching position after being featured on Libs of TikTok’s X account and receiving death threats, spoke about Nex.
“The world is a little darker because Nex is gone,” Wyrnn said at the vigil.
Friends of Nex shared details about Nex’s life, which was cut short by this tragedy. Nex, who friends say identified as trans, was a spirited teen and a talented artist.
“They were such an adventurous little thing,” said fellow Owasso student Ally. “It was never really a dull moment with them.” Ally chose only to use their first name at the vigil.
Nicole Poindexter, associate regional campaign director at the Human Rights Campaign, shared a message for all who attended these vigils.
“Do not go home tonight and do nothing,” Poindexter said. “Nex deserved better and if there is nothing … there will be a flood of parents who are burying their children because we aren’t stopping the rhetoric.”
According to the Rainbow Youth Project USA, a crisis hotline for LGBTQ+ youth calls to the organization tripled in the days following the coverage of Nex Benedict’s death. 349 of those calls came in from Oklahoma.
Police walk back on cause of death speculation
On Feb. 21, Owasso Police released a statement saying preliminary findings did not indicate that trauma was the cause of Nex’s death. However, in a Feb. 27 interview with NBC News, police spokesperson Lt. Nick Boatman walked back the initial statement, saying that the medical examiner’s office had not ruled out injuries sustained in the fight as the cause of death.
“People shouldn’t make assumptions either way,” Boatman told NBC News.
We’ll continue to cover the case of Nex Benedict and update our readers when new information becomes available.