View Full Version : Bullied Minnesota Girls Reportedly Hang Themselves in Apparent Suicide Pact


Retro4Life
04-22-2011, 01:40 PM
(this story breaks my heart)

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/21/bullied-minnesota-girls-reportedly-hang-apparent-suicide-pact/

Published April 21, 2011

| FoxNews.com

Two Minnesota girls who felt bullied by their peers killed themselves in an apparent suicide pact during a sleepover at one of the teen's homes.

A family member found the bodies of Haylee Fentress and Paige Moravetz, both 14, on Saturday at a home in Island Lake Township, Minn.

The girls hanged themselves and left suicide notes, one detailing plans for her funeral, ABC News reports.

"She requested everything pink and princess and butterflies," Fentress' aunt, Robin Settle, told the network in an interview.

The two friends, who attended Marshall Middle School, reportedly felt like outcasts in their eighth-grade class.

Settle said her niece was often teased about her appearance. She said Haylee, who was expelled from school for defending Moravetz in a fight, wanted to return to Indiana where she had recently moved from, according to reports.

"She was made fun of for being overweight, her red hair," Settle told ABC News. "She posted on my [Facebook] wall that she really wanted to come back....that the people were mean and cruel and she didn't fit in."

The Star Tribune reports that grief counselors and other support services were made available this week to the girls' classmates and others at the school.

"When the community experiences the death of a child, it is something that the community has to come together to work through," Marshall Schools Superintendent Klint Willert told the Marshall Independent newspaper.

Click to read more on the girls' suicide pact from ABC News

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/21/bullied-minnesota-girls-reportedly-hang-apparent-suicide-pact/#ixzz1KH66Sipi

Mr. Television
04-22-2011, 02:24 PM
This has got to be one of the saddest things I've ever read. :( Schools need to take bullying seriously.

MickeyMac
04-22-2011, 02:25 PM
The parents of these two girls are more than justified if they went out and killed the kids who bullied their daughters and their parents.


Vigilante Justice all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

catlover79
04-22-2011, 02:49 PM
My heart is just breaking. Those poor girls...and their families...:crying:

70s show watcher
04-22-2011, 03:05 PM
how awful:(

Retro4Life
04-22-2011, 04:06 PM
For all the good memories I have of childhood, we all know that kids can be just inhumanly cruel.

I'm equal parts sad and outraged at this. The thought that these two vibrant young girls BOTH felt so helpless that their only alternative was suicide is just...it's beyond words.

This line just kills me. "She requested everything pink and princess and butterflies," Fentress' aunt, Robin Settle, told the network in an interview.

I think the bullying is getting worse and worse. What kind of children are we spewing out now, and what does it say about the future? And if someone says "bullying has always been a problem", you're right, but...the extent of it plus the various ways we can invade each others' lives makes it SO much worse now IMO.

:rip: to the poor girls. No one will pick on them where they are now. And God bless their families.

Read more: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=283062#ixzz1KHfvY3US

Marvo301
04-22-2011, 04:28 PM
:crying:

Mr. Television
04-22-2011, 04:35 PM
Here's another article on them.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/suicide-pact-minnesota-eighth-graders-haylee-fentress-paige/story?id=13411751

Suicide Pact: Minnesota Teens Haylee Fentress and Paige
Moravetz Commit Suicide at Slumber Party


By JESSICA HOPPER
April 20, 2011

A slumber party in Minnesota ended in tragedy when two eighth grade girls fulfilled a suicide pact, killing themselves and leaving behind suicide notes telling their families that they loved them.

The bodies of best friends Haylee Fentress and Paige Moravetz, both 14, were discovered Saturday by Fentress' mother, Tracy Morrison.

Haylee's aunt, Robin Settle, said the girl had recently moved to the rural town of Lynd, Minn., and had complained to her family that she felt ostracized and bullied. Settle also said there are indications that the girls had planned their deaths for a long time, even including funeral details in a good-bye note.

"I'm shocked and I'm mad and I'm sad...I don't understand the mentality of kids torturing other kids, kids having to go through this. They don't think they have anywhere to go to," Settle told ABC News.com.

Settle said that her niece, Haylee, had been the victim of bullying after moving to Minnesota from Indiana with her mother and 8-year-old brother.

"She was made fun of for being overweight, her red hair," Settle said. "She posted on my [Facebook] wall that she really wanted to come back...that the people were mean and cruel and she didn't fit in."

Even though Haylee wasn't severely overweight, she was so uncomfortable about her size that she rarely ate in public at school, Settle said.

Paige was Haylee's closest friend.

"They were best friends. Haylee started school here about a year ago and over the course of the year, they'd become best friends," said Brett Behnke, Paige's uncle.

Paige played hockey and was teaching Haylee to skate, Behnke said.

"She had a big, round face and a smile that's intoxicating, just a charmer," Behnke said of his niece.

The two girls were so close, Haylee had hyphenated her last name on Facebook to include Paige's last name.

Haylee was recently expelled from school for defending Paige during a fight in school, Settle said.

Calls and emails to the Marshall School District to confirm this were not returned.

"That was really weighing on her, missing her friends and being excluded from school. She felt like she was defending herself and her friend," Settle said.

Minnesota Teens Leave Behind Suicide Notes

The girls died three days after Paige's mother and stepdad left for a 10-day vacation to Hawaii. Paige spent the night at Haylee's home.

"Her and Paige got really close. I think they've had this plan for some time," Settle said.

Sometime after 1 a.m. on Saturday, Haylee left a Facebook post for her cousin, Jessica, wishing her a happy birthday. After leaving a post on her cousin's wall, Haylee called her closest friend in Indiana, Settle said. Around 6 a.m., Haylee's mother found the girls.

"They did hang themselves. My sister found them. She's a medical assistant. She attempted to resuscitate them," Settle said.

Those efforts to resuscitate the girls failed.

The girls also left behind letters.

"She just didn't want anybody to be sad for her. She wanted everybody to pray for her and that's the gist of it," Behnke said of Paige's note.

Haylee's letter was to her mother and detailed plans for her funeral, Settle said.

"She requested everything pink and princess and butterflies," Settle said.

A funeral will be held Thursday for Haylee and a second one will be held for Haylee on Saturday in Indiana. Paige's funeral is scheduled for today.

"She was actually one of the most giving loving girls you would ever meet... She just loved everyone unconditionally...She couldn't stand people to be made fun of, tortured, teased. She stood up for the underdogs and she was one herself," Settle said.

Mr. Television
04-22-2011, 04:40 PM
For all the good memories I have of childhood, we all know that kids can be just inhumanly cruel.

I'm equal parts sad and outraged at this. The thought that these two vibrant young girls BOTH felt so helpless that their only alternative was suicide is just...it's beyond words.

This line just kills me. "She requested everything pink and princess and butterflies," Fentress' aunt, Robin Settle, told the network in an interview.

I think the bullying is getting worse and worse. What kind of children are we spewing out now, and what does it say about the future? And if someone says "bullying has always been a problem", you're right, but...the extent of it plus the various ways we can invade each others' lives makes it SO much worse now IMO.

:rip: to the poor girls. No one will pick on them where they are now. And God bless their families.

Read more: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=283062#ixzz1KHfvY3US
It's just disgusting and sad. Bullying has always been a problem. It was awful when I was in school. It seems like the schools haven't changed. They expelled Haylee for just defending her friend. That's a big problem., The rule states if you fight bla bla bla. They should make sure the schools are safe and if there are bullys around, they should be removed from school permanently. Every child should feel safe at school and they have a right to have a happy childhood.

I also can't stand it when parents and teachers say, kids will be kids. :rolleyes: Maybe if parents would teach their kids how to behave and tell them this sort of thing won't be tolerated, things would change.

Retro4Life
04-22-2011, 05:34 PM
It's just disgusting and sad. Bullying has always been a problem. It was awful when I was in school. It seems like the schools haven't changed. They expelled Haylee for just defending her friend. That's a big problem., The rule states if you fight bla bla bla. They should make sure the schools are safe and if there are bullys around, they should be removed from school permanently. Every child should feel safe at school and they have a right to have a happy childhood.

I also can't stand it when parents and teachers say, kids will be kids. :rolleyes: Maybe if parents would teach their kids how to behave and tell them this sort of thing won't be tolerated, things would change.

I hate to say it, but I think of lot of this goes back to the parents.

While the state of our public schools is pretty much a disaster, I do feel for teachers and admins who now are expected to be teachers AND surrogate parents for kids. It's a generalization, but most kids aren't getting the type of instruction on how to behave and basically, how to be a good human being, from their folks. Most parents
are rarely home, never eat a meal with their kids, have no idea what the kids are doing, who their friends are, how they're doing in school, etc. Kids are forced to grow up too quickly, get no moral guidance and just drift into bad behavior, loneliness, drugs, sex at an early age, depression, etc.

I hate to be so negative, but it's what I see and hear every day. The economy isn't helping, what with people being forced to work more than one job to keep a house going and therefore having much less time to spend with family. Then there's the fact that families live far apart from each other, so there's no the support structure that there was in the past wherein an aunt, uncle, grandparent or cousin might fill in for an absent parent. It's "every man for himself" these days, and we're all paying the price for it.

Marvo301
04-22-2011, 06:06 PM
I hate to say it, but I think of lot of this goes back to the parents.

While the state of our public schools is pretty much a disaster, I do feel for teachers and admins who now are expected to be teachers AND surrogate parents for kids. It's a generalization, but most kids aren't getting the type of instruction on how to behave and basically, how to be a good human being, from their folks. Most parents
are rarely home, never eat a meal with their kids, have no idea what the kids are doing, who their friends are, how they're doing in school, etc. Kids are forced to grow up too quickly, get no moral guidance and just drift into bad behavior, loneliness, drugs, sex at an early age, depression, etc.

I hate to be so negative, but it's what I see and hear every day. The economy isn't helping, what with people being forced to work more than one job to keep a house going and therefore having much less time to spend with family. Then there's the fact that families live far apart from each other, so there's no the support structure that there was in the past wherein an aunt, uncle, grandparent or cousin might fill in for an absent parent. It's "every man for himself" these days, and we're all paying the price for it.
Very well said. And unfortunately all too true.

Family Ties Forever!
04-23-2011, 06:53 PM
That's so sad. Being bullied is awful. I think the bullies should be punished.

dakert
04-23-2011, 10:05 PM
I thought schools were cracking down on bullies??? :confused: I cracked down on one bully ( Dana Sneath) and he didnt bother me anymore :eek:

D-Dey
05-04-2011, 09:33 PM
The parents of these two girls are more than justified if they went out and killed the kids who bullied their daughters and their parents.


Vigilante Justice all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the third grade I was bullied so often, and punished so often for trying to defend myself, I used to fantasize about driving a truckload of explosives right into the front gate of my school and killing every bully and teacher I was forced to put up with. This was actually ten years before the Hezbollah's suicide bombing of the U.S. Marine Barracks in Lebanon, only I would've thrown a concrete block on the gas pedal so I can jump out before imapct. I have no interest in becoming a martyr.


The fact is, schools don't really know how to handle bullies, and don't want to know. They want you to think there are "other ways of handling bullies," which is a bold-faced lie, and if you insist self-defense is justified, they try to blame it on how much TV you watch and other crap like that.

tiredmike59
05-04-2011, 10:52 PM
i never understood bullies, i didnt get picked on much because i always fought back and i hung around some thugs that bullies didnt want no part of.
i also never understood suicide, i always figured i would just wait for an invite from the hooded one like most other people are doing. I have noticed more and more people are home teaching their kids because schools are so bad, i cant say that i blame them.