Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
The parents of a 10-year-old boy who committed suicide have revealed the nickname bullies allegedly called their son before his death.
Samuel Teusch - known as Sammy - was a Greenfield-Central Intermediate School fourth-grade student who died on May 5, 2024.
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The young boy's 13-year-old brother found him unresponsive in his bedroom that morning, the family said.
Sammy's parents, Samuel and Nichole Teusch, claim that he was being emotionally and physically bullied at the Indiana school and that he was being ‘exasperated’ by the lack of action the school was taking.
His father told 13News that kids 'were making fun of him for his glasses and in the beginning they went on to make fun of his teeth'.
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"He was beat up on the [...] school bus and the kid broke his glasses and everything," the dad claimed.
The father added to FOX 59: "'How could God take my kid from here?' Of course that was going through my head. God didn’t take my kid; hate did."
While the dad called for ‘action’ and ‘accountability’, the police investigation found that there was 'no known cause' for Sammy to have taken his life, despite his parents' claims of bullying.
In June, the Greenfield Police Department confirmed 'there will be no criminal charges filed with the Hancock County Prosecutor'.
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At the time, Police Chief Brian Hartman said: "At the very beginning, everybody started saying this was bullying, this was a result of bullying, and I say this with a heavy heart, unfortunately, we do not know the cause of this.
"There was no note or no text messages. Sammy didn’t say why he felt he had to do this."
However, investigations did find that Sammy had been targeted both inside and outside of the school, and his parents confirmed that they had made at least 20 reports of bullying towards their son prior to his death.
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Samuel and Nichole have since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Greenfield-Central Community School Corporation and Greenfield-Central Community School Corporation Board of Trustees, per WRTV.
In the suit, they claim that there was ‘callous indifference’ towards their son’s bullying as well as being ‘repeatedly informed about the bullying of Sammy Teusch ('Sammy') by students under the District's supervision, and yet did nothing to address it’.
It continues: "As a direct and proximate result of the District's and these individuals' gross dereliction of arguably their most important duty, Sammy took his own life on May 5, 2024."
The suit went on to allege that bullies would call Sammy 'Dahmer', in reference to the US serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
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However, when a teacher was made aware of this, the suit alleges that ‘her only response was that, in her opinion, Sammy did somewhat resemble Jeffrey Dahmer’.
The suit also claims that Sammy began acting out in class as ‘a cry for help’ but was reprimanded.
While it notes that the principal began to allow Sammy to have his lunch in their office after the ‘Dahmer’ nickname was uncovered, ‘it is unknown whether [the principal] took any disciplinary actions towards the bullies, or informed their parents’.
Then, according to the lawsuit, when he entered the fourth grade, it only got worse.
The suit claims: "During breakfast period, Sammy was chased throughout the school, and would attempt to hide in a bathroom stall, often refusing to come out.”
Chief Hartman agreed that Sammy was having ‘some rough times at school from other kids’ as police ‘have statements and facts to back that up’, but there were also ‘things that happened outside of school’.
The Chief said that there has ‘probably been an accumulation of things having happened in this child’s life that led up to that traumatic decision he made that day’.
UNILAD has contacted the Greenfield-Central Community School and Greenfield Police Department for comment.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact The Compassionate Friends on (877) 969-0010.
Britt Jones