LGBTQ advocacy organizations are condemning the decision of Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler not to pursue criminal charges in connection with the death of Nex Benedict, an Oklahoma high school student who passed away a day after an altercation in the girls’ restroom at their school.
Kunzweiler stated on Thursday that he didn't believe there was a basis for charges, referring to an investigation by local law enforcement and a report the findings from the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office attributing Benedict’s death on Feb. 8 to suicide.
Benedict, who identified as two-spirit, transgender, and gender-nonconforming, passed away after consuming a lethal dose of antihistamines and antidepressants, according to a summary report released last week by the state medical examiner’s office. The full medical examiner’s report is scheduled for public release on March 27.
The district attorney stated in his release that police found “brief notes, written by Benedict, which appeared to be related to the suicide.”
“Although the notes do not mention the earlier altercation or difficulties at school, the parents indicated that Benedict reported being targeted for various reasons while at school,” he wrote.
He added that the altercation “was an instance of mutual combat” and he did not believe the state could prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt if criminal charges were brought.
This decision prompted swift criticism from LGBTQ rights groups, stating that the district attorney’s office made the decision even with key information about the case still unknown.
“Kunzweiler repeats incomplete and premature information about Nex’s cause of death. The full autopsy report is not due out until next week,” the LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD said Friday in a statement. “The cause of death is also not a reason to not hold perpetrators accountable for violent behavior including beating Nex unconscious in a public school bathroom and causing Nex to be sent to the hospital.”
In body camera footage released last month by police in Owasso, Okla. — where Benedict lived with their grandmother, Sue Benedict — Benedict said they were “attacked” in a restroom at Owasso High School on Feb. 7 by three girls they did not know.
Benedict, who used both they and he pronouns, told police in the video that they sprayed water at the girls after they insulted Benedict and another student's clothing, and the girls responded by assaulting them. Benedict was taken to the hospital immediately after the altercation and the following day after collapsing at home.
“DA Kunzweiler’s statement offers no more evidence or insight, instead, it asks us to trust the status quo in believing a set of facts that are so violently in opposition to the lived experiences of 2STGNC+ Oklahomans,” said Nicole McAfee, executive director of Freedom Oklahoma, using the acronym for two-spirit, transgender and gender non-conforming people.
“We deserve the safety to learn here, to thrive here,” McAfee continued in a comment. “We should get the real facts, openness, and fairness. And genuine fairness doesn't come from a police officer with a law degree. We support those who are looking for truthful explanations of what happened to Nex.”
Kunzweiler’s comment, which does not mention Benedict’s gender identity, also mentions Benedict by their previous name, or the name they used before they transitioned. GLAAD in its comment called the move “harmful and completely unnecessary.”
“A comment that mentions the previous name of a trans victim as its opening sentence is one that clearly indicates the brand of justice given by DA Kunzweiler’s office — one that does not include or respect Two Spirit, transgender, or gender nonconforming+ (2STGNC+) people,” McAfee said.
“DA Kunzweiler’s words do have an impact on influencing public opinion as we await results of independent, ongoing investigations in the weeks ahead,” they added.
The Department of Education this month initiated its own investigation into Benedict’s school district, Owasso Public Schools, at the request of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest LGBTQ rights organization. HRC President Kelley Robinson in a Feb. 21 letter to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said the school district had failed to adequately address sex-based harassment toward Benedict.
Robinson, in a separate communication to Attorney General Merrick Garland, called for the Department of Justice to investigate Benedict’s death, and the organization has called for additional investigations into the Oklahoma State Department of Education and Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction.
More than 350 LGBTQ and civil rights organizations — including HRC, GLAAD and Freedom Oklahoma — last month called on Oklahoma House leadership to remove Walters from his position, alleging the superintendant is responsible “for fostering a culture of violence and hate” against transgender and gender non-conforming people in Oklahoma.
Walters, who was elected in 2022, has characterized transgender students as a danger to their classmates and has largely embraced education policies that restrict the rights of transgender young people in Oklahoma. In January, Walters appointed Chaya Raichik — the conservative activist behind Libs of TikTok, whose posts often target LGBTQ people — to a state library advisory board.
Robinson reiterated HRC’s call for a “full and complete” investigation into Walters, the state education department and Owasso Public Schools Friday.
“Nex was failed by their school, and failed by every elected official who allowed a culture of bullying and harassment to grow unchecked,” Robinson said in a statement, responding to Kunzweiler’s decision not to file charges in the fight involving Benedict.
“We won’t stop until there is justice for Nex and for all kids — in Oklahoma and beyond,” she added.
