Abuse victim, 12-year-old girl broadcasts suicide on Facebook

This is very sad! Katelyn Nicole Davis, a 12-year-old girl suffering from depression, committed suicide and broadcast via Facebook Live. The case, which took place on December 30, 2016, in Cedartown, Georgia, United States, gained huge repercussions after the video was published on other platforms and became a morbid viral.

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According to the Daily Mail, during the broadcast, she revealed that she was sexually abused by a relative and, after that, she positioned the camera in front of a tree, in the garden of her house, where she hanged herself. The action lasted about 42 minutes (enough time for someone to call the responsible authorities?) and, at the end of it, a woman’s scream can be heard.

“I’m sorry I’m not pretty, I’m sorry I’m in and out of your lives so quickly, I’m sorry I’m not good enough, I’m sorry I look like a whore. I’m so sorry,” she said minutes before taking her own life.

When the local police arrived – much later – the teenager was taken to the hospital, but declared dead on arrival at the Emergency Room. The case continues to be investigated.

On her personal blog, in which she used the pseudonym “Dolly”, Katelyn, on December 27, had already made publications related to the abuse. She wrote about being beaten with a belt and a relative’s attempt to rape her. According to the newspaper, in the text she also said that, when confronting the abuser, the man suggested that she hang herself.

It’s not the first time someone has streamed their own death, and sadly, it won’t be the last. It is necessary to create mechanisms to help these people and, mainly, not to treat this as a show or episode of “Black Mirror”. It is never the victim’s fault.

Despite having already been taken down from Facebook and Youtube, the video is available on other sites that continue to profit from advertisements every time the content is displayed. Out of respect for others who are mentally ill or abused, this footage should be challenged as it can serve as a trigger.

Know someone who needs support? The CVV, Centro de Valorização da Vida, provides emotional assistance and suicide prevention by phone, email, chat and Skype 24 hours a day. Call 141.