IL - Death of Aquan Lewis, 10, at Evanston school ruled suicide, 3 Feb 2009

[capoly]

From Capoly's article http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/02/boy-found-unresponsive-at-evanston-school-dies.html

(red mine)

Unbelievable...I didn't read the comments yet my words were near identical about balancing on a toilet. As are many across the Internet. The footprint probably was on the toilet seat due to the child trying to get footing so he could live.

Salem, there was also an incident like this in Canada, 1998 think it was. I only found the lead-in to the story but in that it said other kids were involved. Weird things do happen but 'accidentally' hooking the back of ones shirt collar on a hook high enough to hang from?? Like you, would like to hear what that child has to say. If he is able to say.

 

[capoly]

Not to the degree as this case. But if other kids were involved with hanging the child on the bathroom hook,they may have thought it funny and that the outcome be the same as below.


NYC MUSIC TEACHER HANGS CHILD BY BELT LOOP

Jason Schoenberger, 24, told police he was playing a prank on a colleague at Public School 279 when he attached a 5-year-old boy to a coat hook by his belt loop, nearly 5 feet off the floor, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

Kindergarten teacher Rayna Cohen, who found the terrified child in a closet last Thursday, dangling by his ...
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-92972979.html


NYC TEACHER FACES 2ND ABUSE CHARGE
NEW YORK, Apr 02, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A New York City music teacher who got into trouble for hanging a boy on a coat hook by his beltloop is accused of doing it to another child.
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-93057659.html


Darn fool did it twice.

 

[kgeaux]

I feel the same as you Kat. I do realize that children at a very young age can suffer from depression, but most times it doesn't result in suicide.

I would like to know how he was taken down off the coat hook also if the janitor found him on the floor. Did the hook break?

We had a beautiful little boy here in the Lafayette area who commited suicide almost exactly the same way last year. He asked to be excused from class, went to the restroom and hung himself.

No one really knew he was having problems. He was a very successful child and 'maybe' he'd set the bar so high for himself that he felt he couldn't keep up.

Nevertheless, it is very, very difficult to believe that these kids meant to kill themselves. I always wonder if these are choking games gone wrong.

 

[dreamweaver]

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/02/boy-found-unresponsive-at-evanston-school-dies.html

'snipped'

10-year-old boy found hanging in an Evanston school restroom had threatened to take his life, sources said today, underscoring experts' warnings to take cries for help seriously even from the very young.
Scolded by a teacher, Aquan Lewis responded with a threat to kill himself the same day his body was discovered, said sources familiar with the investigation.
The 5th grader hanged himself Tuesday afternoon by his shirt collar on a hook in an Oakton Elementary School restroom stall where a footprint was found on a toilet, a source said.

Aquan Lewis, age 10, found in Evanston school bathroom stall. He was hanging from the door hook. Police say it is a suicide.
His mother does not believe that. Aquan L was in the 5th grade at Oakton Elementary School, in Evanston, Il.

'snipped'
Child suicides are "very rare" and do not usually occur in a public place like a school, said Dr. Paula Clayton of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Nationally, three dozen children between ages 9 and 11 committed suicide in 2005, the most recent data available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. None of those was in Illinois.

 

[Bobbisangel]

How sad for the little boy and especially for his family. This boy is only 10 years old yet he knew what to do to make sure that the hanging worked. That is really scary. Our kids are way to advanced for their ages now days.
The teacher getting after this little boy must have been the last straw for him. There must have been other things happening in his life. I wonder how he got along with his classmates?

 

[christine2448]

Good Sat morning y'all! There is a thread here about this.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79226&highlight=Aquan+Lewis

 

[Kat]

Suicide ruling may be headed to court

"The ruling of suicide in the death of a 10-year-old Evanston student is apparently heading to court.
The boy was found hanging from a coat hook in a bathroom. His mother says she doesn't think it was suicide.
The ruling by the Cook County medical examiner is not sitting well with a lot of students and parents of students who go to Oakton Elementary School and other schools in District 65. They are supporting the boy's mom, Angel Marshall, in her effort to find out exactly what happened to her son on that day at school."

"Marshall's lawyer asked for the court order which preserves the 911 tapes made from the school on Tuesday, the day of the incident. It keeps that third floor bathroom in Oakton Elementary unaltered and protects physical evidence."

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6646103

 

[Kat]

Court to Evanston schools: Preserve evidence

"A Cook County Circuit Court judge today ordered Oakton School, District 65 and the Evanston Police Department to preserve all evidence related to the death of Aquan Lewis, a 10-year-old boy found Tuesday hanging from a hook inside a washroom.

Attorney Todd A. Smith filed the emergency court petition today as a precautionary move on behalf of the boy's mother, Angel Marshall, and the Aquan Lewis Estate. Smith said the order requires Evanston police to preserve the tapes of the 911 call placed by Oakton School staff on Tuesday, which otherwise could legally be disposed of after 30 days.

The order also requires the school to leave the restroom scene at the school intact and preserve all objects and evidence in the case, including the boy's school records."


And:

"Smith said the order requires Evanston police to preserve the tapes of the 911 call placed by Oakton School staff on Tuesday, which otherwise could legally be disposed of after 30 days.

The order also requires the school to leave the restroom scene at the school intact and preserve all objects and evidence in the case, including the boy's school records."



I hope that the true cause of this young man's death is found, if it was a suicide (which I find a hard time believing) then his Mother will get the answers she deserves. It's unfair they "closed ranks" on her questions and "stonewalled" her.

 

[txsvicki]

I hope some innocent troubled kid at the school isn't wrongfully accused of murder. I can't imagine why a teacher would lie about the threat to kill himself. It's not normal to say such things and is a sign of mental illness. Too bad kids have such trouble getting help for mental illness. Just because a low percentage of kids kill themselves doesn't mean it can't happen or that they aren't in a depression or suffering from mental illness. Even if the parents were called immediately, they might have had trouble even getting the threat taken seriously or even finding a child psychiatrist, depending on how much money or what type insurance they are lucky enough to have.

 

[Kat]

Bump for Aquan, update information since the week of FEB 07, 2009

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/evanston/news/1425441,ev-aquan-lewis-funeral-021109-s1.article Article dated 11 FEB 2009

snip~

"Hundreds of community members Wednesday shared a collective sense of grief and incomprehension over the loss of 10-year-old Aquan Lewis during a funeral service for the fifth-grade Oakton Elementary School student at the First Church of God Christian Life Center in Evanston."

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/evanston/news/1425424,ev-oaktondeath-021209-s1.article Article dated 12 FEB 2009

~snip~

"Save-evidence order
On Friday, Smith obtained a court order to require Oakton School, District 65 and the Evanston Police Department to preserve all evidence related to the boy's death. The order requires Evanston police to preserve photographs, physical evidence, interviews and the tapes of the 911 call placed by Oakton School staff at 2:57 p.m., about 20 minutes before school was to be dismissed for the day. School District 65 has been ordered to retain his student records.

The Department of Children and Family Services is investigating a report of neglect against the school, based on an anonymous tip placed on the agency's hotline. But spokesperson Kendall Marlowe cautioned against reading too much into the existence of an investigation."

 

[Tonia]

Boy's death a suicide, Evanston police agree

Evanston police today concurred with the Cook County Medical Examiner that the death of 10-year-old Aquan Lewis was self-inflicted and not a case of bullying that went too far.

Speaking at a press briefing, Police Cmdr. Thomas Guenther said the conclusion that his death was, in fact, a suicide was based on two pieces of physical evidence as well as student interviews that the fifth-grade student had spoken of killing himself that day with other students.

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/evanston/news/1435481,ev-aquan-lewis-021709-s1.article

 

[Kat]

TY for the update Tonia. It breaks my heart because a 10 yr old has no concept of suicide and that it's forever.

Blessing to his Mother so that she can make it through this tragedy.