Felicia
Garcia, a 15-year-old student at Tottenville High School who killed
herself by jumping in the path of a train was bullied to death by
classmates after she had sex with four football players, police sources revealed.
The tormented Staten Island teenager was driven to her death after two 17-year-old classmates blabbed about the encounters.
Garcia’s
life began spinning out of control Saturday when she went to a
post-football game party and agreed to have sex with some of the
players, police sources said.
On Monday, she told a girlfriend about the encounters and told her they were consensual.
“Kids
are saying she had sex with some guys from the football team at a party
after the game. Later on they wouldn’t leave her alone about it. They
just kept bullying her and bullying her,” said one of Garcia’s friends.
After the weekend, Garcia tweeted on Monday:
“I cant, im done, I give up.”
The same day she
posted photographs of herself on Instagram where she appears beaten and
bruised, with her lips seemingly cut or sewn together. She added the
hashtag ‘beatup.’
School
officials heard of the bullying and set up a mediation session
Wednesday with a counselor and one of the 17-year-old boys who denied
harassing the Garcia. Leaving the office, she later ran into the other
17-year-old who had been making her life miserable — and they exchanged
words, the sources said.
Police did not say what was said. But it was enough to send Garcia off to the Huguenot station of the Staten Island Railroad, where she killed herself in front of classmates.
Police did not say what was said. But it was enough to send Garcia off to the Huguenot station of the Staten Island Railroad, where she killed herself in front of classmates.
Senior
Alissa Compitello said she saw Felicia on the way to the train station
and the girl told her that she had the mediation because of the
bullying.
“She was smiling though, like everything was going to be okay,” said Compitello, 17.
But
a quick look at Felicia’s Instagram account would have revealed the
depths of her despair. On it, she placed a picture of herself with the
word “Depressed” covering her eyes.
“Just because someone is smiling doesn’t make them happy,” read her caption.
Even before her suicide, Garcia’s life was marked by tragedy, the sources said. She was living with a foster family and a chronic runaway who had been reported missing seven times, they said.
Even before her suicide, Garcia’s life was marked by tragedy, the sources said. She was living with a foster family and a chronic runaway who had been reported missing seven times, they said.
Detectives
are now questioning the students accused of harassing Garcia and
combing through Facebook and other social media for evidence that she
was bullied. They have also questioned the four varsity football players
with whom Garcia had sex.
“They said at no time was the victim pressured into doing anything,” one of the police sources said.
The
Board of Education has sent a crisis team to Tottenville H.S. to deal
with the tragedy. Some students described a school besieged.
“I have a feeling mad s—- its gonna pop off in school tmrw,” one student Tweeted Wednesday, after news spread about the suicide.
“Everything
was fine with her until she went to that football game Saturday night,”
said Compitello. “We need to do something about these bullies. There is
too much bullying going on in this school. We need justice.”
Sara Brager, a 16-year-old junior, said she was on the platform when Felicia handed her cell phone to a pal,walked to the edge of the platform, then fell backward into the path of an oncoming train. She said she is haunted by Garcia’s final words.
“Just before she fell, she said, ‘Finally, it’s here,’” said Brager. “It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen.”
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