Note: This article will be updated with additional coverage.
The death of Nex Benedict has drawn hundreds in the Tulsa area to publicly demonstrate in remembrance and protest.
Benedict, a nonbinary 16-year-old Owasso High School student, died Feb. 8 after a reported fight the day prior. Police say trauma was not the cause of death, although Benedict reported three girls beat them on the floor until they blacked out.
Benedict told police the girls had previously picked on them because of how they dress.
Owasso
Hundreds gathered Sunday night at Redbud Festival Park in Benedict's hometown to remember their life.
Ce’Gon Shoeleh said she came out to the vigil because she has a transgender friend.
"It took me a long time for me to realize that he’s scared, and this is exactly why he’s scared,"
The vigil featured several speakers, including students who knew Benedict. Robin Ingersoll, who dated Benedict in middle school, urged people to simply remember their life.
Ingersoll said Benedict went by male pronouns, as well.
"There’s still an investigation going on, and what we need to be worried about right now is about how he lived, and who he was, and remembering him, and justice will come later," he said.
Tyler Wren, who resigned from Owasso as a teacher after a video surfaced of him making flagrant remarks about Oklahoma education at a coffee shop, taught Benedict. He said the world is "a little darker" without Benedict, who he said was feisty and full of energy.
Before her child’s death, Benedict's mother complained to student resource officer Caleb Thompson that the district didn't reach out to her immediately after the fight. While Thompson said the district "dropped the ball" for not reaching out to him after potentially criminal actions, a school spokesperson said the district followed protocol by reaching out to her after she said she wanted to file a police report.
Owasso High School parent Anna Richardson, who organized the vigil, said the students affected by policies need to be allowed greater input.
"I want to get these students a seat at the table in the rooms where these policies are being created," Richardson said.
Tulsa
In addition to Owasso, residents in Tulsa gathered for a vigil of their own Sunday evening at Guthrie Green.
The vigil included multiple speakers and a few musical performances honoring Benedict and calling on elected leaders to act or, in some cases, be removed.
"We are calling on the Oklahoma state legislature to remove Ryan Walters," Nicole Poindexter, associate regional campaign director for the Human Rights Campaign, told the audience when listing demands from the organization.
Rev. T. Sheri Dickerson, executive director of Black Lives Matter OKC, said state Sen. Tom Woods should be removed after a recent comment referring to LGBTQ people as “filth.”
“Removing the power from people with jaded consciouses and those who don’t understand what real filth is because they’re not looking in the mirror," Dickerson said.
Vigils have been held in honor of Benedict across Oklahoma and the country.
