Momof boy who killed himself: ‘ I ammy son’s voice’

Cincinnati school video of assault at center of inquiry

The mother of Gabriel CINCINNATI Taye urged parents to “help fix this epidemic in our society” that she said took her 8- year- old son’s life in a suicide Jan. 26, two days after another student assaulted him at school.

Separately, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said Saturday that his office has opened a review of Gabriel’s death and wants to examine a computer Gabriel owned for any clues.

“I am my son’s voice, and it will be heard,” said a statement from Gabriel’s mother, Cornelia Reynolds of Cincinnati. “It is my obligation to make sure that this will never happen again. No, this will not go away. People need to know the truth and help fix this epidemic in our society by spreading awareness and speaking up.

“Parents: It is OK to tell your children to reach for help when someone is hurting them.”

Reynolds issued the statement after Cincinnati Public Schools released a 23- minute security- camera video from Carson Elementary in West Price Hill. The video shows the entrance to a boys’ restroom Jan. 24.

Deters said his office wants to look at a notebook computer of Gabriel’s “to see if there’s any indication on it of what had happened to him. It’s just so bizarre to everyone who’s looked at this thing.”

In the video, Gabriel Taye walks into the restroom and reaches out to shake hands with another student. That student instead pulls Gabriel into the restroom wall, and Gabriel drops to the ground. The other student disappears. For more than six minutes, Gabriel does not move as other students poke, kick, touch or walk past his unmoving form. Then the assistant principal arrives, joined by other adults. They get Gabriel on his feet, and he walks away with them.

Reynolds said she got a call from the school to pick Gabriel up because he had fainted. She said the school did not tell her he had been assaulted. That night, he began vomiting. She took him to the hospital, where he was treated and released the next morning as a case of stomach flu. He stayed home from school that day but returned to Carson Elementary the next day, Jan. 26. That evening, he hanged himself with his tie from his bunk bed.

“Gabriel was a shining light to everyone who knew and loved him,” Reynolds’ statement said.

“No, this will not go away. People need to know the truth and help fix this epidemic.” Cornelia Reynolds, mother of Gabriel Taye, 8