“She told her she loved her and that she was her best friend forever, but that she was going to kill herself when she got home,” Bethany’s mother, Wendy Feucht told local media.
The Washington Post reported that the friend’s father called Feucht when his daughter told him what Bethany had said, but it was too late. Bethany had already found a loaded handgun on a shelf in her home, went out to her back porch and fatally shot herself. Feucht said that her daughter went through a lot of bullying because of her “crooked” smile. Doctors were able to successfully remove a tumor from Bethany’s brain when she was just 3 years old, but the surgery left her with nerve damage.
Bethany’s mother said the middle-schooler’s friend told her that a group of classmates had picked on her “relentlessly” the day she died.
Bethany’s father, Paul Thompson, told WHIO that his daughter always seemed happy when she spent time with him. “I was never aware of the extent of it,” Thompson said.
Bethany’s obituary describes her as enjoying swimming, coloring, shopping, music, superheroes and Pokemon. "Every year, she looked forward to attending vacation Bible school and church camp. She loved all animals, horseback riding and her family," it read.
Friends of the family have held multiple fundraisers to help pay for Bethany's funeral and burial, as well as anti-bullying awareness.
Feucht said she has learned since her daughter’s death that Bethany and her friend had created anti-bullying posters to post at her school, Triad Middle School in North Lewisburg. Administrators did not allow them to display the posters, she said.
“I’m sure she felt pretty defeated,” Feucht said.
The Springfield News-Sun reported that several parents have raised concerns over Bethany's suicide and allegations of bullying at the school, which lost a 12-year-old student to suicide four years ago. Triad Local Schools Superintendent Chris Piper has been meeting individually with parents to discuss the issue.
Piper acknowledged that Bethany was bullied last school year, but said that administrators took steps to protect her, the Post reported. Piper said that district officials are working to “bolster anti-harassment and bullying training for both students and staff.” "The relationship between bullying and suicide is complex," the website states. "Many media reports oversimplify this relationship, insinuating or directly stating that bullying can cause suicide. The facts tell a different story."
Piper made similar statements when discussing Bethany's death and the 2012 suicide. Both deaths are tragedies, Piper said, but shouldn't define how well or poorly the district handles bullying and other situations at school.
