Owasso police officers suspected foul play was involved in Nex Benedict’s death, affidavit says
A search warrant that was executed on Feb. 12 shows what Owasso police collected from the high school amid their investigation
A search warrant that was executed on Feb. 12 shows what Owasso police collected from the high school amid their investigation
A search warrant that was executed on Feb. 12 shows what Owasso police collected from the high school amid their investigation
Newly released court documents say Owasso police officers suspected foul play in the death of Nex Benedict, the nonbinary 16-year-old student who died in early February after getting into a fight at the high school.
NOTE: The details from the affidavit are disturbing. Also, KOCO 5 is using they/them pronouns for Nex Benedict, but this article uses direct quotes from court documents, which use she/her/daughter.
The affidavit states that around 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 7, Owasso police responded to Bailey Medical Center's emergency room after a parent wanted to speak to an officer about an assault that happened at school. The mother indicated that she didn't want to file charges at the time but asked the officer to talk to the school about the issues between students.
Around 2:50 p.m. on Feb. 8, Sue Benedict called 911 asking for medics for her 16-year-old. The affidavit states that the teenager was posturing and that their hands were curling, their eyes were rolling back and had shallow breathing.
Sue Benedict "described her daughter getting into a fight at school yesterday where she hit her head on the bathroom floor," according to the affidavit. She also told the officer that the school advised her that "she may need to take her to the hospital because she was complaining of a headache."
| MORE | Candlelight service to honor Nex Benedict in Oklahoma City
Owasso medics initiated CPR on the teenager and took them to St. Francis hospital around 3:20 p.m. on Feb. 8, "where she was later pronounced dead."
"Owasso Police Officers suspect foul play involved and need to initiate an in-depth investigation into the death of the decedent and believe any relevant information held by Owasso Public Schools is necessary to do so," the affidavit says.
A search warrant also shows that on Feb. 12, five days after the fight, police took 137 photos of the school and girls' bathroom where it happened, two swabs from stains found in the bathroom and records and documents of the students involved in the fight.
| MORE | Parents of Owasso High School student who died correct errors of misidentifying their child
On Feb. 21, the Owasso Police Department issued an update saying preliminary information from an autopsy report conducted by the State Medical Examiner's Office indicates that Nex Benedict did not die as a result of trauma. The official autopsy report will be released at a later date. Police added that other comments on the cause of death are pending until toxicology results and other ancillary testing results come back.
Nex Benedict's death has gained international attention, with the White House issuing a statement saying violence in schools will not be tolerated. A GoFundMe page set up to help their family has raised more than $120,000 as of Friday afternoon.
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