Investigation into death of Tacoma-area middle school student draws scrutiny over safety
The death of an 11-year-old student in Franklin Pierce School District last week has drawn scrutiny from parents over bullying and safety. Exactly what caused the girl’s death is not known, but law enforcement is investigating.
Lenyia Swansey Faafiti was a sixth grader at Ford Middle School, district spokesperson Joel Zylstra said. The school is just south of Tacoma near Midland.
According to law enforcement and school officials, the student was involved in a fight at school with another 11-year-old girl on May 16, four days before she died in the hospital.
It’s not clear whether the girl was injured in the fight or that it led to her death, but talk of the incident spread on social media, and by Monday, parents and some students were protesting outside the Franklin Pierce School District building on 129th Street South in Parkland.
A few dozen parents and students attended, according to KOMO News, many of them holding signs with slogans against bullying.
Part of the fight was captured on video, and Zylstra said the footage was shared with school officials on May 19 when they learned the girl was in the hospital. He said the video was turned over to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss said he has seen the video.
“From the looks of the fight, there’s nothing that would have clearly shown a head injury,” Moss told The News Tribune. “It was a fight between two 11-year-old girls, and it did not look like anything that would have caused any major or serious injury.”
Moss said the girl attended school the day after the fight and went to a sports practice. But Wednesday, Moss said, Lenyia’s family called 911 about 2 a.m. reporting that the girl was unresponsive. A deputy responded to the home, and the girl was transported to a local hospital.
Lenyia died in the hospital Friday. Moss said the Sheriff’s Department is conducting a death investigation and that detectives are waiting for the Pierce County medical examiner to determine the girl’s cause of death.
In response to pressure from parents asking what Franklin Pierce School District is doing to keep students safe, the school board organized a work session Tuesday evening that focused on student safety.
The work session was to begin at 6 p.m. at the Central Avenue Elementary School gym. It was to be livestreamed on Zoom.
Attempts by The News Tribune to reach the girl’s family were not immediately successful.
In a GoFundMe started by relatives of Lenyia to help with the cost of funeral services, a cousin said the young girl’s family members were “completely broken” over her death.
“Lenyia was sassy, sweet, a lover, and a hustler,” Erianna Swansey wrote. “She could light up a room with her smile alone. She was young with her whole life to live.”
