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A nine-year-old boy has committed suicide after enduring four days of homophobic bullying at school.
Leia Pierce, said her son, Jamel Myles, told her over the summer he was gay and wanted to tell his classmates at his school in Denver, Colorado because he was proud of his orientation.
Independent UK quoted her as saying that Jamel had begun wearing fake fingernails on August 20 the first day back following the school holiday. Four days later, she found his lifeless body at home.
The Denver coroner’s office confirmed Jamel died by suicide.
“My child died because of bullying. My baby killed himself,” Mr Pierce told The Denver Post. “He didn’t deserve this. He wanted to make everybody happy even when he wasn’t. I want him back so bad.”
She said Jamel’s eldest sister revealed other children had told the boy to kill himself.
Counsellors were made available to children, teachers and school staff at Joe Shoemaker Elementary School on Monday, the newspaper reported.
In a letter sent to families, Denver Public Schools (DPS) said Jamel’s death was an “unexpected loss for our school community”.