Nex Benedict (January 11, 2008 – February 8, 2024) was a 16-year-old non-binary American high school student who died the day after a physical altercation in the girls' restroom of their high school. Investigators later determined Benedict's death was a suicide caused by an overdose of Prozac and Benadryl. The incident was the subject of national media attention as some have argued Benedict's death was the result of anti-LGBTQIA policies in Benedict's home state of Oklahoma.
According to Benedict's mother and friends, Benedict had been bullied by classmates about their gender identity for more than a year before their death. On February 7, 2024, Benedict was involved in a fight in the girls' restroom at Owasso High School, during which they lost consciousness. The following day, Benedict collapsed in their living room and was later pronounced dead.
In late February, Benedict's death began to receive widespread news coverage and vigils in honor of Benedict were held across the United States. Civil rights groups and advocates condemned anti-LGBTQ policies and rhetoric, and called for an investigation of the Oklahoma State Department of Education, as well as the removal of Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction. Walters defended state policies and criticized responses to Benedict's death as politically motivated.
On March 13, a summary autopsy report by the Oklahoma medical examiner ruled Benedict's death a suicide caused by a drug overdose. On March 14, family members of Benedict released a statement about how they did not want the finding of suicide to overshadow the severity of Benedict's injuries from the altercation.
On March 21, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler deemed the bathroom altercation to be mutual combat and announced no criminal charges would be filed in connection with the altercation or Benedict's death. In response, advocacy groups called for an independent investigation. On March 27, the Oklahoma medical examiner released a full autopsy report restating the finding of suicide by drug overdose.
Background
Nex Benedict was born in 2008 in El Paso, Texas. According to Sue Benedict, Nex's grandmother and adoptive mother, Nex's biological father relinquished all parental rights early on, and is in prison for abuse. Sue raised Nex since they were two months old and formally adopted them a few years before their death. Sue is enrolled in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, but Nex was not affiliated with the tribe. Nex and their family lived in Owasso, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa, on the Cherokee Nation reservation, and attended school at Owasso High School on the reservation. The high school has 3,000 students in grades 9 through 12.
In 2022, Oklahoma became the first state in the United States to prohibit the use of non-binary gender markers on birth certificates, in Oklahoma Senate Bill 1100. A law passed in 2022, Oklahoma Senate Bill 615, prohibits students from using a bathroom that does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth, and minors are legally prevented from receiving gender-affirming health care. Legislation under consideration for the 2024 session included new curriculum for public schools to describe gender as an "immutable biological trait," a ban on changing sex on birth certificates, and a requirement for school employees to use pronouns and names for students based only on birth certificates.
Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction, has implemented policies that include preventing students from changing the designation of their gender or sex in school records. In January 2024, Walters appointed social media influencer Chaya Raichik, the operator of the Libs of TikTok account, known for posting anti-LGBTQ+ content, to the Oklahoma Department of Education's Library Media Advisory Committee. In 2022, a middle school teacher, reported to have been "greatly admired" by Nex, resigned after becoming a subject of a post by Raichik.
According to Sue Benedict and Nex's friends, students at Owasso High School had been bullying Nex due to their gender identity for more than a year since the beginning of the 2023 school year. Benedict was a sophomore in high school.
Altercation
On the afternoon of February 7, 2024, surveillance footage from the Owasso High School hallway showed six students enter the girls' bathroom where the incident occurred, before Nex and two students entered. In a subsequent interview with police, Nex told an officer that while they and their friend were in the restroom, Nex heard laughter and comments about Nex and their friend, from the group of three students they had previously complained to their mother about. Nex said they poured water on the group of three students, and then "They came at me. They grabbed on my hair. I grabbed onto them. I threw one of them into a paper towel dispenser and then they got my legs out from under me and got me on the ground." Nex said they were then beaten by the students and lost consciousness.
Nex told the officer they did not know the names of the three students and said the group had antagonized them for days before the altercation. Nex said they had only known the students through an in-school suspension they were all serving, and Nex said the group were all first-year students.
Sue Benedict said she was contacted by Owasso High School and arrived to find Nex with bruises on their face and scratches on the back of their head. Sue was also informed that Nex was suspended from school for two weeks. Sue then took Nex to be examined at a nearby hospital and summoned the Owasso Police Department.
Sue told the officer about past complaints by Nex about three students in the week before the altercation, and that Nex had described the conduct as "they're making comments, they're throwing stuff, they're calling us names," and Sue told Nex to ignore the students. During the interview, the officer asked Nex why they had not reported the past conduct of the three students to the school, and Nex replied "I didn't really see the point in it."
The officer indicated it was possible the incident might be seen as mutual and Nex could face charges if Sue pursued charges against the three students, also stating that the other students had no right to put their hands on Nex. Sue declined to pursue charges at that time. The officer also said he could be contacted to reconsider filing charges, if after Nex was examined, their injuries were more severe than scrapes and bruises. Nex was discharged later that day and reportedly went to sleep with a sore head.
Death
On February 8, the day after the altercation, while preparing to travel with their mother for an appointment, Nex collapsed in the family's living room. Sue called 911, saying that Nex's eyes had rolled back and Nex was struggling to breathe. Nex had stopped breathing by the time emergency medical technicians arrived, and was declared dead at the hospital that evening.
Investigation
Dan Yancy, Owasso Police Chief, said that "no report of the incident was made to the Owasso Police Department prior to the notification at the hospital." A search warrant dated February 9 resulted in the collection of 137 pictures from the school, two swabs of stains from the bathroom, as well as records and other documents related to involved students.
In a February 20 statement, an Owasso Police spokesperson said school staff and students were being interviewed by detectives. The spokesperson also said the police investigation would be provided to the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office to review for prosecution. In a February 21 statement, Owasso Police wrote on Facebook, "While the investigation continues into the altercation, preliminary information from the medical examiner's office is that a complete autopsy was performed and indicated that the decedent did not die as a result of trauma" and "further comments on the cause of death are currently pending until toxicology results and other ancillary testing results are received."
On February 21, a police department spokesperson said hallway video from inside the school, showing Benedict before and after the incident, had been reviewed by investigators. On February 23, the Owasso police released footage from school surveillance cameras, officer-worn body cameras, and audio of the 911 calls made by Sue Benedict on February 7 and 8.
A spokesperson for the Owasso Police Department said in a statement to Popular Information that the medical examiner had not explicitly said that Benedict's death was unrelated to the head injuries, and that the Owasso Police had reached out to the examiner's office in order to head off national scrutiny. On February 23, in a statement by their attorney, the Benedict family said they were independently investigating Benedict's death.
On February 27, an Owasso police spokesperson stated to NBC News that the medical examiner's office had not ruled out the fight as a possible cause or contributor to Benedict's death and added that "people shouldn't make assumptions either way."
March 13 summary autopsy report
On March 13, the Oklahoma medical examiner's summary report was released, ruling Benedict's cause of death a suicide from a combined toxicity of two pharmaceutical drugs: diphenhydramine (an antihistamine and sedative commonly known under the brand name Benadryl) and fluoxetine (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant known under the brand name Prozac).
On March 14, family members of Benedict released a statement through their attorney and said they had reviewed the complete autopsy report and did not want the ruling of suicide to overshadow other findings in the report, saying, "Rather than allow incomplete accounts to take hold and spread any further, the Benedicts feel compelled to provide a summary of those findings which have not yet been released by the Medical Examiner's office, particularly those that contradict allegations of the assault on Nex being insignificant...the Medical Examiner found numerous areas of physical trauma over Nex's body that evidence the severity of the assault."
Following the release of the summary autopsy report, a police investigation was reported to continue into the school bathroom incident and whether Benedict was subject to gender-based violence.
March 21 District Attorney announcement
On March 21, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler announced that no criminal charges would be filed in response to the altercation on February 7 or Benedict's death on February 8. Kunzweiler stated detectives had assessed the altercation as "an instance of mutual combat", and based on the evidence collected, he agreed with this assessment. Kunzweiler also said police had found "some brief notes, written by Benedict, which appeared to be related to the suicide" and said the contents were of a personal nature. According to Kunzweiler, the notes "do not make any reference to the earlier fight or difficulties at school" and the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office would not release the notes. Kunzweiler also noted that the medications found to be the cause of death were "legally available within the home where Benedict resided."
March 27 full autopsy report
On March 27, the Oklahoma medical examiner released a full autopsy report with a toxicology report, citing suicide as Benedict's manner of death. Combined toxicity of diphenhydramine and fluoxetine was ruled to be the cause of death. The report also referenced handwritten notes found in Benedict's room by family members that were "suggestive of self-harm".
The Oklahoma medical examiner report also described several injuries on Benedict's head and neck, including two contusions, two small lacerations, two abrasions, and hemorrhaging on their right cheek and ear. Other injuries noted by the report included injuries described as likely caused by attempted resuscitation, as well as various contusions and abrasions on Benedict's limbs. The report also states injuries to Benedict from the altercation on February 7 were not lethal and found no brain injury.
Other medical examiners and forensic pathologists reacting to the report have suggested that though fluoxetine levels in the report were not necessarily alarming, diphenhydramine was likely elevated to ranges consistent with cases of death.
Aftermath
Early news reports following Benedict's death on February 8, 2024 were limited and misgendered Benedict. The Los Angeles Blade, an LGBTQ newspaper, reported on Benedict's death on February 19, and more in-depth and widespread news coverage began on February 20.
A national hotline run by the Indianapolis-based Rainbow Youth Project reported receiving over 200 calls from Oklahoma in the weekend following Benedict's death, more than three times the usual amount, with many mentioning Benedict's death, and most reporting having been bullied. By March 7, contacts had continued to exceed the typical amount, including close to 1000 calls and online messages after February 16. According to Lance Preston, the founder of the Rainbow Youth Project, greater awareness of the services offered by the group contributed to the increase in contacts.