A mother is still mourning the loss of her precious baby girl who sadly took her own life due to bullying.
Felicia LoAlbo-Melendez died by suicide inside a bathroom at the F.W. Holbein School in Mount Holly. The tragic incident happened shortly after the death of her dad, NJ Transit Detective Alexis Melendez, from cancer. Before her February death, the sweet sixth-grader had written school officials about what was going on at the school. She detailed how she and her friends were being bullied, according to her mom, Elaina LoAlbo, who shared an email her daughter had sent. “I was watching TV and thinking about the things in my life that have happened to me. Then, I got a great idea!” Little Felicia wrote. “Instead of a drama club, it would be a Trama [sic] club! Trama [sic] is not a light subject to talk about, but I believe that having somewhere that people can go to, destress and let out all of their feelings and emotions,” the girl reportedly wrote. She went on to say that if they accepted her idea, she would even “help and provide as much as I can.”
“Well, I hope that this does happen. I for one have heard from my friends and others about things that have happened to them and I think this would be a fantastic thing. Have a great night,” Felicia added. What was even more heartbreaking was the audio her mother recently found in her daughter’s phone that was recorded in 2021 in which Felicia promotes being nice to everyone, adding, “Don’t be a bully.” “My daughter has been advocating against bullying since kindergarten when she was told to color herself with a brown crayon,” Elaina LoAlbo told Fox News.
“My daughter believed she was golden. That Mommy was white and Daddy was brown. … She started standing up for herself and others since then.” As distraught as she is, Felicia’s mother wants to continue her daughter’s message “of empowering these kids to stand up for themselves.”
“It’s not just my daughter’s cries that fell on deaf ears, but this is happening in all the schools,” she told the outlet.
What Was The School’s Response?
LoAlbo told the New York Post that she has demanded to see security footage to prove her daughter was alone at the time of her death because she fears someone else could have been involved in it.
“Over the last eight weeks they have refused to show me any video tape footage, and several emails in reference to the school about the bullying,” she told the outlet this week. “I have asked to see the scarf [found in the bathroom], the security tapes and I’ve been locked out of her school [online] account since before she had even passed,” LoAlbo added.
Meanwhile, School District Superintendent Robert Mungo told The Post that since Felicia’s passing, his office “cooperated fully, including providing surveillance footage and all documents related to the investigation. The district has never turned down any request for information or footage pertaining to the investigation from any authorized individual,” he said in a statement.
“Our district suffered a loss, which continues to weigh heavily on the school community. School counselors and administrators, with the support of the Burlington County School Crisis Response Team, have and will continue to increase outreach to students and staff and are prepared to aid them in processing this latest information as they continue to grieve.”
An investigation is ongoing and Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said the video would soon be released to LoAlbo:
“The investigation has concluded, and arrangements will be made in the near future for Ms. LoAlbo to be shown the footage,” the rep added in a statement to the Post.
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