Police reveal real reason girl jumped from bridge after shaming video was posted
Tacoma, Wash. — Just hours after 13-year-old Izabel Laxamana jumped from an Interstate 5 overpass in Tacoma on May 29, rumors began to circulate on social media about what drove her to suicide.
At the center of those rumors was a 15-second video posted on YouTube. In it, Izabel is seen with her hair cut short. Her once long, black locks were on the ground in a pile. Her father could be heard speaking off camera.
“Man, you lost all that beautiful hair,” he said. “Was it worth it?”
The video went viral and led to the most prevalent rumor about Izabel’s death – that the Giaudrone Middle School student killed herself by jumping off the South 48th Street overpass because her father had posted the clip online to shame her. Some called for her father to be prosecuted criminally.
Within days, the story became global news and rumors made their way into headlines all over the world.
“What I saw in this particular incident was news media reporting what was being put on the Internet by citizens who had no idea about the facts,” said Tacoma Police Department spokeswoman Loretta Cool, who urged patience until a full investigation could be done.
Police say the real story about what led Izabel to take her own life is nothing like the tale being spun online.
Cool said Izabel’s father never posted the video online, but sent a copy to his daughter so she could have a reminder of the consequences for misbehaving. According to police, Izabel’s parents did not want her using social media and cut her hair after she was caught sending a suggestive photo to a boy.
Police say it was Izabel who shared video of the punishment with several of her friends.
Tacoma Public Schools said it became aware of the video on May 27 and that Izabel was given counseling at school on the morning of her suicide.
It wasn’t until later that day, after Izabel jumped from the South 48th Street overpass, that police say a friend posted the video to YouTube. It now has more than 4 million views.
Based on eight notes Izabel left behind before she died, investigators believe she took her own life because she was ashamed of her own actions on social media and worried the photo she’d sent to a boy would haunt her for the rest of her life.
In one note, Cool said, Izabel told her father how much she loved him and that he wasn’t to blame for her death.
In addition to rumors about whether the video contributed to her death, classmates said Izabel was being bullied at school and was upset because she couldn’t participate in student government.
In a statement released over the weekend, the Tacoma Public School District responded to rumors surrounding Izabel’s death:
“The death of Izabel Laxamana … has taken an emotional and traumatic toll on the staff and students at Giaudrone Middle School.
