Obituary for teenager who killed self cites school bullies

The obituary for 15-year-old Sadie L. Riggs got right to the point.

“Yes, Sadie took her own life, she hung herself,” the memorial notice on the Louis Geisel Funeral Home website said.

Sadie, who died Monday, was from Bedford, about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh.

A student at Bedford Senior High School, she was known as a sweet and loving girl who played softball, loved music and enjoyed drawing and reading, the death notice said. Sadie was a member of the Solid Rock Christian Fellowship Church in Bedford. She worked as a cook at Pizza Hut and thought about being a firefighter or a veterinarian, according to the obituary, her Facebook page and news reports.

Life wasn’t all that easy for the teen, who was in counseling and taking medication, the obituary said.

“For a young lady so excited about going to the High School things sure went terribly wrong for her,” the obituary stated.

Sadie was bullied by classmates, the family contends.

“They called her everything in the book,” Sarah Smith, the teen’s aunt, with whom Sadie lived, told WPXI-TV.

“On her cellphone, SnapChat, Kik and Instagram were her big things getting bullied on,” Ms. Smith told the station.

The obituary addressed the actions of the bullies.

“… please know you were effective in making her feel worthless.

That is all between you and God now, but please know that it is not too late to change your ways,” it says.

“To all the bullies out there, I just want you to know that as much as we despise your actions never, ever do we wish for you to feel the paralyzing pain that engulfs our bodies, a pain so severe that it makes the simple act of breathing difficult or the guilt that leaves us wondering what we could have done differently — or that struggle to remember the last words we spoke …, ” the obituary continued.

“Sadie’s death has taken us to dark places, we will stick together and protect one another as we try to make sense of this tragic loss,” the obituary states. “Our hearts are beyond broken.”

In addition to her aunt, Sadie is survived by her father, Eric; stepmother, Alicia Smith; biological mother, Beverly Riggs; five brothers; and three sisters.

“In lieu of flowers, the family of Sadie ask that you be kind to one another,” the obituary ends.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800273-8255, is staffed round the clock.