A 12-year-old sixth grader in Georgia has died days after collapsing near her home following a fistfight with a classmate, prompting a police investigation and renewed questions about school violence.
Authorities in Villa Rica identified the girl as Jada West, a student at Mason Creek Middle School in Douglas County. Police said she was involved in a fight with another girl shortly after getting off her school bus on March 5 in the Ashley Place subdivision near her home.
Cellphone video circulating on social media appears to show the two students fighting in the street and on the ground while other children watched. After the fight ended, West walked away toward her home but soon collapsed in the roadway, according to police and local media reports, according to ABC News.
A friend ran to alert West's family, who rushed to the scene and found her unresponsive, relatives told reporters. Emergency responders arrived to find someone already performing CPR before paramedics took over and transported her to Tanner Medical Center.
West was later transferred to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta – Scottish Rite, where doctors said she had suffered a severe brain injury. She was placed in a coma and died on Sunday, March 8, three days after the fight, officials and family members said.
An autopsy is underway to determine the exact cause and manner of death, and results have not yet been released. Investigators with the Villa Rica Police Department are reviewing video of the altercation and other evidence and plan to meet with the Douglas County district attorney's office about possible charges, the India Times reported.
West had enrolled at Mason Creek Middle School in January and had reported being bullied, according to her family. The Douglas County School System said in a statement that it was deeply saddened by her death and offered condolences to her relatives, classmates, and teachers.
Police have not released the name of the other girl involved in the fight because she is a juvenile. Officials said counseling resources are being made available to students and staff as the investigation continues, as per Fox56.
