Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / BOY, 10, KILLS HIMSELF AFTER SCHOOL BULLIES' RELENTLESS MOCKING HIS GLASSES, TEETH

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BOY, 10, KILLS HIMSELF AFTER SCHOOL BULLIES' RELENTLESS MOCKING HIS GLASSES, TEETH · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Breaking news tonight.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Did a precious, beautiful little boy just ten years old
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: take his own life? Kill himself after horribly cruel school
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: bullies relentlessly mock his glasses and his teeth? At this hour,
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: criminal charges against those school bullies are being investigated.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: So why did the school do nothing?
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: I want answers now, Good evening. I'm Nancy Grace. This
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us.
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: Hundreds of mourners fill the pews at Brandywine Church to
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: remember Sammy Toysch. The Iron Sharpen's Iron Motorcycle Ministry volunteers
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: to escort Toysh's casket to the cemetery. More than one
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: hundred bikers had the procession. Community members and classmates cry
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: each other and leave flowers on Sammy's casket at the burial.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: When I look at Sammy, I think of Opie, Andy
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: and Mayburry. Look at this little angel, completely scrubbed in sunshine.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: You're just hearing our friends at Crime on Line describing
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: a motorcade for his funeral so full of life and joy.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: You can just see the energy. He's gone. He's gone
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: because of school bullies. Joining me an all star panel
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: to understand what is happening and frankly, why the school
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: did nothing. Of course they claim that's not true, but
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: I think that it is joining me right now. Special
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: guest is Sammy's father, sam Toys.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Thank you for being with us.
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: Thank you for having me. Nancy, I really appreciate you
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: letting us use your platform to get this word out.
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: There's nothing we're going to do to bring Sammy back
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: to the voice.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Mister Toyce, I've said this before. As a crime victim myself,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: after my fiance was smartered, I thought I knew it
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: all about grief and mourning and trying to go through
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: hell and come out on the other end to do
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: something positive with my life.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: You know what, I knew nothing.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Nothing, zero, Because now that I have my two children,
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: I don't think there's anything that could compare to losing
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: your child.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: What happened that.
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: Day, I really wish I knew.
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: I've replayed it in my head a million times.
• 3:01
  Speaker 5: You know. We got up Sunday morning.
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: And I was making eggs for the kids, and Sammy
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: and Xander wanted pancakes, and I didn't have enough left
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: from Saturday morning, so I ran over to Dollar General
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: to get pancakes, and I mean I was probably gone five, six,
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: seven minutes and I got back and I and as
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: soon as I got back, opened up the package.
• 3:30
  Speaker 5: I'm dumping it in. Nikki had told Xander to go get.
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: To go get Sammy because it was his grandma's birthday and.
• 3:45
  Speaker 5: She wanted to call him. And I have all the
• 3:47
  Speaker 5: kids say happy birthday.
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: And then I heard Xander's screen.
• 3:54
  Speaker 5: And I ran upstairs and.
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: Found Sammy and I started CPR and I held him
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: in my arms and I opened his eyes and I
• 4:07
  Speaker 4: breathed it to him, and I was on the phone
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: with nine one one instantly before I even made it
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: to his bedroom.
• 4:15
  Speaker 5: I was on the phone with nine one one couple.
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: I don't know how long after that, somebody busted by
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: me in my house upstairs and they said, I'm I'm
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: a fireman, I'm your neighbor. I heard this on the scanner,
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: and he started working on Sammy as the ambulances started
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: pulling up and.
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: The fireman and police.
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: And you know, it wasn't it wasn't a special morning.
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: There was nothing going on. You know, I had just
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: seen him. He was laying in bed with Nikki. He was,
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: he was snuggling with his mom.
• 5:00
  Speaker 5: I don't know.
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: I keep a million times if I would have just
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: got home that Bama got your pancakes, you know, coma.
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: It's all been if I if, I I wish I
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: I could have, I should have. I didn't, you know,
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: I mean, it's been a million different things and it
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: hasn't stopped.
• 5:26
  Speaker 5: I don't. I don't know. And then, you know, come
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: to find out later he had.
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: We had his phone, so so we didn't have to
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: worry about anything. You know, there was another another kid's
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: phone that that this kid was calling and FaceTime and
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: then kept saying stuff to saying about you know, waiting
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: until you get to school on Monday.
• 5:56
  Speaker 5: You know, you're you're really going to get it.
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: And I, you know, I didn't know that until after
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: Xander had actually taken Sammy out of the room and downstairs.
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: So they sat there and played roblocks and then fell
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: asleep on the couch downstairs.
• 6:13
  Speaker 5: And I wish I had an answer for you. I
• 6:20
  Speaker 5: wish I had an answer for me.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: You know, I do the same thing even now. I reply.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: Everything that happened leading up to Keith Smarter that the
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: weekend before the morning up that day.
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: The day before, we had soccer games in the morning,
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: the twins at soccer game, and then we went into
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: Indianapolis and there's a place called.
• 6:42
  Speaker 5: Pins down there that they got a bunch of games in.
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: So we went there and played ping pong and ring
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: toss and you know, all kinds of other stuff pinballs,
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: and they had a great day, you know. And then
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: we got home and cooked on the grill. It was
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: real late. It was like nine thirty ten o'clock. Can
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: we barbecue hot dogs on the grill and then roasted
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: marshmallows and Sammy roasted marshmallows for Nicky, you know. I
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: you know, nothing extraordinary stands out that it was, you know,
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: because that's what we do all the time, where we
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: always do family.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: I think that that is why everybody, including me and
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: I don't believe I'm afraid of anything except something happening
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: to my twins. And that is why what you're saying
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: is so scary. It's scary because everything no it is
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: we thought was fine.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: But everything's fine. At home. You're relling out.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: You're spending so much time with your children, You and Nicole,
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: they're your universe.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: But what happens at school? And when I found out,
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: mister Toys.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: That people school bullies were making fun of Sammy's glasses
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: and his teeth. I don't think my brother will mind
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: me telling this, but when he was little, all the
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: way until he got his braces off, which was into
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: high school, everyone not us, but I didn't know this
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: till years later, called him horse face Grace.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: He was a little boy, little little boy, he had.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: But teeth, and my parents had to take out a
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: payment plan.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Remember the coupons that you'd filled out the coupon to.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: Pay the loan and send in the check. They did
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: that for my brother to you know, get his teeth strayed.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: And they had nothing, no money, but they did the
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: relentless bully. I never knew about it. They must have
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: have known, mister toych I mean, who are these children?
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: Well, you know, the biggest thing is like as you
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: can imagine, I mean, you know that when you put
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: something on social media or anything else, that there's you
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: got to expect crap from both sides. So while the
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: outpouring of love and support has been great, I have
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: also gotten horrible, horrible messages about how this is our fault.
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: We're doing this for monetary gain.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: Crime stories with Nancy Grace. Who is wrong with people?
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: Now? Do you see what's happening, mister toysh They are
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: trying to do to you and Nicole?
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: What was done to Sammy? Bullying, trolling, hateful one.
• 9:56
  Speaker 4: The one we got yesterday said well, the kid didn't
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: need braces. You should have tooken him and got braces.
• 10:04
  Speaker 4: And the you know, the fact of the matter is,
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: and he still has baby teeth.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: You can't get braces that early.
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: You can't get braces. And like I told Sammy, you
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: got adult teeth coming in your little head. And here
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: pretty soon your head's going to equal out and everything's
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: everything's going to be in place where it needs to be.
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: You're beautiful, you know, there's nothing wrong with you.
• 10:32
  Speaker 5: You know. Even after he got the glasses and.
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: It was it was wonderful that day because Sammy loved
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: the outdoors. And when he first put those on and
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: when we went outside, he didn't know that the world
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: was supposed to look the way it was, you know,
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: and the wayflowers looked and grass and animals running by
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: and everything.
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: He was fascinated.
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: It was like he was seeing it for the first time,
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: and he absolutely loved him. And then that next day,
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: getting off the bus, you know, I was standing at
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: the end of my driveway and I watched him get
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: off the bus two doors down, and I could see
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: as soon as he got off he had those glasses
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: clenched in his fist and he was crying and and
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: he said, I'm ever wearing these stupid things again. There,
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: you know, it just it just gave him added ammunition.
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: I called the school, you know, and I'm mister toys.
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: We you know, we're handling this and and we're making
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: sure that stuff like this stops.
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: And I took for granted that they were, you know up.
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: I thought they were up until I seen the thing
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: from the school corporation that said there have been no reports.
• 11:45
  Speaker 5: Of bullying being made. And then it's like, wait.
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: A minute, Wait a minute, you're you're calling me a
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: liar that I didn't sit here right in this chair
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: that I'm sitting in right now and hold Sammy. I
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: don't know how many times while he cried, trying to
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: explain to him, you know, the unfortunate part of being
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: a human being. You know, there's people out there who
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: do not care what you've got going on at home,
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: and do not care what anything else they're They're here
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: to persecute, and they're here to punish, and a lot
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: of times it's become it's because they come from an awful,
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: terrible place. And and that's that's a discussion that I
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: had with Sammy about how you don't know where these
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: kids come from.
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: You don't know the awfulness that they're facing at home.
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: Most most you know, not most, I don't want to
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: say most, but a lot of kids don't have mommy.
• 12:39
  Speaker 5: And daddy to come home to and cry on.
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: And he thought about things like that, and then he
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: also thought about the fact that if he fights back,
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: he's the aggressor.
• 12:51
  Speaker 5: He's got to be. He's got to be scared of
• 12:54
  Speaker 5: getting in trouble at school for defending himself.
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: Where As Americans we should no matter what your age is,
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: you should be able to defend yourself without fear or repercussion.
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: It's terrible, and it's the same with the friends. You know,
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: his friends couldn't help him.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: I hear you saying that these bullies may may come
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: from a bad place, as you put it, maybe not
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: the best home, but that is no excuse for what
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: they did, and there is no excuse.
• 13:30
  Speaker 5: I feel terrible for all of them.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: There is no excuse for the school now saying they
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: would never warned about the bullies.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: I know for a fact you told them and you
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: asked for help.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: They are claiming they knew nothing, and they keep talking
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: about all their grief and they're out.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Pouring of grief.
• 13:56
  Speaker 5: Now.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: They are saying that they have worked with you guys
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: over the lane last months.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: But did that ever happen?
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: They've talked to us several times. I mean, that's what
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: he's talking about, you know. I mean they're they're just
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: pushing the buck.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: Did they do anything to help?
• 14:13
  Speaker 5: No?
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: No, even the time when he got smacked in the
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: face with his iPad on the bus, you know, he
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: got kicked off the bus for that. They said at
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: that point in time police would be contacted.
• 14:26
  Speaker 5: This is assault. I don't know for sure if that
• 14:30
  Speaker 5: happened or not. I'm sure that that'll come out in this.
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: But you know, the one guy that watched the video
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: said this is the worst video I've ever seen.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: Joining me in Ulstar panel, but special guest Sammy's father
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: is with us. Sam Toysch. Mister Toysch, you mentioned that
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: there was a video which was, as you said, horrible.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: What was the video on the school bus? Correct?
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: Yeah, but I was never allowed to see it. I
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: still haven't seen it. I don't know at this point
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: if I want to see it. I mean, if you
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: know what did it depict? It depicts Sammy getting getting hit,
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: uh not just hit, attacked.
• 15:17
  Speaker 5: You know.
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: They they told me that police we're going to be
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: contacted about this, that you know, someone will be held.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: Accountable for this, and it never happened.
• 15:31
  Speaker 5: I do not know.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: That answer is that when Sammy was hit with the iPad. Yes,
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: what did he look like when he got off of
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: the bus.
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: Is that he had a cut by his eyebrow, which
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: is where his glasses had broke, like right here underneath
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: his uh earholders or whatever, so that pushed into his face,
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: knocks his knocked his lens out.
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: This was his right eye. So you know, I did.
• 16:07
  Speaker 5: I do have pictures of that, you know.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: To Stacy Honowitz joining me, Assistant State's Attorney, Child Abuse Unit,
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: author of the bully at school, really uncool, Stacy, thank
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: you for being with us, you know, Stacy, After covering
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: so many cases about bullies where the victim actually the child,
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: a victim actually commits suicide.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: I was so worried.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: Do you know, not one time from pre K to
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: tenth grade as of right now, pre K to tenth grade,
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: did I ever let the twins ride a bus.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: I rode a bus.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: Everybody I know rides their children ride the bus because
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: we think it's safe.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: We're supposed to be safe. It's not.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: And the abuse only continued one Sammy got to school Stacy,
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: and I know the school is saying they did everything right,
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: be as I don't believe it.
• 17:08
  Speaker 6: Well, I mean, I've seen many cases where things have
• 17:10
  Speaker 6: happened at the school and the school later on goes
• 17:12
  Speaker 6: on to say we were unaware of it. Now, certainly
• 17:15
  Speaker 6: they were aware of it, and the schools know that
• 17:17
  Speaker 6: if somebody calls in about a bullying situation, any kind
• 17:21
  Speaker 6: of criminal situation, any kind of situation that involves their child,
• 17:25
  Speaker 6: there are notes that have to be taken, There are
• 17:27
  Speaker 6: records that have to be kept, There are outside sources
• 17:31
  Speaker 6: that have to be called, such as the police, and
• 17:33
  Speaker 6: certainly if the police were contacted with regard to this,
• 17:36
  Speaker 6: there would have been a statement from dad from the child,
• 17:39
  Speaker 6: something would have happened. I hate to say, but I
• 17:41
  Speaker 6: think lots of times when things happened at school, especially
• 17:44
  Speaker 6: on the school bus, that's really blowed down on the
• 17:47
  Speaker 6: chain as to being investigated. Where was the bus driver?
• 17:52
  Speaker 6: Why didn't the bus driver make a statement? I'm telling
• 17:55
  Speaker 6: you something else, Stacy?
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: When this if the school is wrong, and I have
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: reason to believe they are, when they're saying, well, we
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: did everything right, all of these defenses. If they intimate
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: Sammy's mother and father are lying, then they're looking at
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: a big fat defamation lawsuit.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: I think they have a.
• 18:17
  Speaker 6: Couple of suits now. If that's the case in defamation,
• 18:21
  Speaker 6: certainly a failure to protect, there's a failure to protect.
• 18:24
  Speaker 6: There's a neglect. There are several things that go along
• 18:27
  Speaker 6: with situations like this. They are rare, but certainly once
• 18:31
  Speaker 6: you pull those records, once you see if calls were made,
• 18:35
  Speaker 6: once you pull the video, once you talk to the
• 18:37
  Speaker 6: bus driver, all of these factors are going to come
• 18:40
  Speaker 6: to light.
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: From what we understand, Sammy's parents tried everything listen.
• 18:45
  Speaker 7: After Sammy Toys's death, Greenfield Central Community Schools denied that
• 18:50
  Speaker 7: any reports of bullying had been made, but Sammy's family
• 18:53
  Speaker 7: says Greenfield Intermediate was well aware of the problem. Sam
• 18:57
  Speaker 7: and Nicole Toysch, who works at the school, called many
• 19:00
  Speaker 7: times to raise concerns.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: They also received several calls.
• 19:04
  Speaker 7: Teachers reported that Sammy was fearful at school and would
• 19:07
  Speaker 7: hide under his desk and in closets. Several other families
• 19:10
  Speaker 7: have come forward with reports of bullying, one mom claiming
• 19:13
  Speaker 7: she found her eleven year old son's detailed plans to
• 19:17
  Speaker 7: end his life due to the torment joining me.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: In addition to Sammy's father, Sam toys is his brother Tyler. Tyler,
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: I can't even imagine what you're going through. To think
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: of your little brother hiding under a desk and in
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: closets at school to escape bullies.
• 19:39
  Speaker 8: It is not something I ever imagined to happen or
• 19:43
  Speaker 8: imagine was happening. You know, I knew slightly about what
• 19:48
  Speaker 8: was happening from my parents, my mom and her husband,
• 19:54
  Speaker 8: but didn't really know the full extent until after.
• 19:59
  Speaker 5: The happened.
• 20:00
  Speaker 8: In it, it's just been I can't even describe what
• 20:08
  Speaker 8: it's been like, you know, since everything has happened, it's
• 20:12
  Speaker 8: really hard on us all, and it's especially hard to
• 20:15
  Speaker 8: see your family hurting over this as well as having
• 20:19
  Speaker 8: that same pain and that same grief.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: Now, it's curious a lot of people don't understand it.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: I do understand it, having dealt with so many crime victims.
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: Actually I don't understand it, but I accept it. I
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: accept it. This is true that a victim can be
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: suffering so much, but they don't tell mom and dad.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: They don't talk about it as much at home. They
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: try to just suck it up and keep going. Did
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: Sammy ever let on what was happening at school? I mean,
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: this little boy's hiding under desks at school. What teacher
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: didn't see that and fix it? He's hiding in closets
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: at school and nobody's doing anything to protect him.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: Tyler.
• 21:07
  Speaker 8: I know he had spoken, you know, quite often with
• 21:12
  Speaker 8: my mom and her husband about that when I spoke,
• 21:15
  Speaker 8: and that's where I'm getting my information from them.
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: So as a big brother.
• 21:21
  Speaker 8: You know, you want to give him that support and
• 21:25
  Speaker 8: give him that room to talk. But I think for me,
• 21:30
  Speaker 8: you know, we stood talk every day almost at least
• 21:35
  Speaker 8: text or you know, he'd call me in video chat,
• 21:37
  Speaker 8: and it was more so I think just an escape
• 21:40
  Speaker 8: for him to just kind of not have to think
• 21:43
  Speaker 8: about it. And you know, I was trying to make
• 21:46
  Speaker 8: him laugh and we'd have a lot of fun. And
• 21:50
  Speaker 8: I still keep looking at my phone hoping he's going
• 21:53
  Speaker 8: to call.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: He's just absolutely gorgeous, this boy. I don't understand why
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: this happened. The relentless bullying, the mocking of this little boy.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: Until he takes his own life.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: Dad rushes back from getting supplies to make pancakes, runs
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: up the steps little Sammy, still warm to the touch,
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: He tries everything.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Sammy is gone.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: Instead of preparing to celebrate the summer, they had to
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: have a funeral for their ten.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: Year old little boy. I don't understand it.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: At this hour, we are learning that an investigation is
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: taking place. Will Sammy Tysh's bullies actually face criminal charges
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: as they should.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: He wasn't fighting back.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: He was beaten with his own iPad on the school bus.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: And it went on and on and on. Sammy's dad
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: sam with us, mister toys. Did you have any idea?
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: Did any t shirt reach out and say, Sammy's hiding
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: under the desk at school.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: He's hiding. I'm going to try to help you.
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: Did anybody do anything They always pampered.
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: They always said, yes, we're taking care of this, this
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: will stop happening.
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: It isn't going to happen again. You know, they didn't
• 23:32
  Speaker 5: do anything.
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: You know how many other parents are out there that
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: dread sending their children to school.
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: Absolutely, my son had.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: A bully, my daughter had a girl bully.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: And I would just die in the mornings when I
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: would drop them off. I would tell them everything you're
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: supposed to know about bullies.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: I follow the book, I listened to Stacy Honowitz, I
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: did it all.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: The bullies didn't stop until finally, guess what. The bully
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: punched my son in the stomach. And I had a
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: march on a school and do you know how many
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: other parents showed up that the same bully had choked,
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: handled cursed at their children. There were so many they
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: couldn't even fit in the conference room.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: I had no idea what was happening.
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: And my son begged me, don't say anything, mom for
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: years until finally going into year three and he got
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: pushed in the stomach.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: All hgwl Brook loose.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: I can tell you that what would Sammy say when
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: he would come home, mister toysh I don't.
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: Know what to do about it. I don't want to
• 24:41
  Speaker 5: be in trouble.
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: I don't want to, you know, because I had went
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: from telling him turn the other cheek, which was, you
• 24:49
  Speaker 4: know that how we teach these kids, we don't teach
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: them to hate people, to telling him.
• 24:56
  Speaker 5: You know, you're going to have to do something.
• 24:59
  Speaker 4: And his thing was, you know, because he was a
• 25:01
  Speaker 4: good student, so he didn't want to be in trouble
• 25:04
  Speaker 4: at school, and he was getting in.
• 25:05
  Speaker 5: Trouble at school for that, you know, they were.
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: Actually forming him into a behavior case, you know.
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: And the more I look back on it now, it would.
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: Always redirect onto how well, you know, you need to
• 25:21
  Speaker 4: hold Sammy accountable for his actions, and I'm like, man,
• 25:24
  Speaker 4: I'm not holding him accountable for being picked on.
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: I'm gonna come this is his safe place.
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: This is where he knows that he can be loved
• 25:34
  Speaker 4: and secured and nothing's gonna happen to him here.
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: Well, I think the school bus video shows at all
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: the fact that he was not the aggressor at all.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: Lauren Conlin, investigative journalists joining us who has been on
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: the case from the beginning.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: Lauren thank you for being with us.
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: What can you tell me about reports that are happening
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: as of right now that there is a criminal investigation
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: going on. And another thing, FYI needs flash. Corporations like
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: schools can be criminally held responsible. It's hard to do,
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: It's very hard to do, but it can be done.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: Oh yes it can. And if they keep putting it out.
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: There that Sammy's dad or mom never warned them, they're
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: looking at a big fat lawsuit for defamation suggesting that
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: the Toyes are lying, because I will stake my life
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: on it. The Toyses are not lying. They did contact
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: the school. What do you know about these alleged charges.
• 26:52
  Speaker 9: Well, I'm sorry, my eyes are watering. I'm just so
• 26:55
  Speaker 9: incredibly sorry here. But I do want to point out, unfortunately,
• 27:00
  Speaker 9: year last March, about three hours away in Covington, Indiana,
• 27:03
  Speaker 9: another young boy, a thirteen year old, also died by
• 27:08
  Speaker 9: suicide because of bullying.
• 27:10
  Speaker 10: He actually made a video naming his bullies.
• 27:12
  Speaker 9: And at this point the Indiana General Assemblies sprang into
• 27:16
  Speaker 9: action and they actually.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Were able to pass a bill.
• 27:19
  Speaker 9: This is House Bill fourteen eighty three in regards to
• 27:23
  Speaker 9: bullying and so what this bill states and this is
• 27:26
  Speaker 9: a law is that if bullying report is made to
• 27:31
  Speaker 9: the school, each set of parents, the child being bullied
• 27:35
  Speaker 9: and the alleged perpetrator, they have to be notified within
• 27:39
  Speaker 9: five days and then action items need to be set.
• 27:43
  Speaker 9: There needs to be action items on the table for
• 27:45
  Speaker 9: both families.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: To agree to.
• 27:47
  Speaker 9: And at one point it cable for this law for
• 27:51
  Speaker 9: the children to actually change schools. So I believe that
• 27:55
  Speaker 9: this is what's happening right now. There is an investigation.
• 27:58
  Speaker 9: They are possibly possibly looking into phone calls, emails, and
• 28:03
  Speaker 9: I believe that the school may end up being in
• 28:07
  Speaker 9: deep trouble.
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: Joining you right now in addition to Sammy's father joining us,
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: Sam toysh who is just living through a hell, won't
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: you help us speak out?
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: Won't you help us speak out.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: Against bullying, against what's happening to our children at school?
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: Regarding this case Greenfield Pd three one seven four seven
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: seven four four one zero repeat three one seven four
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: seven seven.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: Four four one zero.
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: Joining me right now is in addition to Sammy's dad,
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: McKenna's father is joining us along with Sammy's brother Tyler
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: Hunter Brown.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: For being with us in any words of wisdom you
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: have for Sammy's dad.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: We're all ears.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: You did everything right, you and your wife everything right,
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: but then a.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: Parent's worst nightmare comes true.
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: Mister Brown, I'm thinking about ten year old Sammy who
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: was seemingly defenseless. Well, he was defenseless against a gang
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: of bullies. McKenna seemed as if she had everything the
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: world at the tip of her fingers, just beautiful, smart,
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: the star athlete. But even McKenna became prey to bullies.
• 29:42
  Speaker 11: McKenna's bullying happened really quickly and started basically on a Wednesday,
• 29:48
  Speaker 11: and she took her own life Sunday morning.
• 29:51
  Speaker 10: It happened very fast for us. We didn't have time.
• 29:53
  Speaker 11: To really get in front of it, or just basically,
• 29:57
  Speaker 11: my wife found out the day and a half before
• 29:59
  Speaker 11: I found out the day after, you know, the social
• 30:04
  Speaker 11: media aspect of it. And it happened days before she
• 30:08
  Speaker 11: was supposed to start her senior year. She'd had an
• 30:12
  Speaker 11: episode of bullying her freshman year, and nobody knew better
• 30:16
  Speaker 11: than mkenna you could outrun social media or the Internet.
• 30:19
  Speaker 11: And I think you know, just that dread of her
• 30:22
  Speaker 11: senior year starting over the way that her freshman year
• 30:25
  Speaker 11: began was too.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Much for her too. Mister Brown joining us, Dada, McKennon.
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: Brown, What were those days and nights like immediately after
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: McKenna's suicide?
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: How did you get through?
• 30:39
  Speaker 11: You know, it's uh I grew up in a different era.
• 30:43
  Speaker 10: That kind of stuff was just kept very quiet.
• 30:46
  Speaker 11: You didn't really talk about it, You didn't discuss it.
• 30:48
  Speaker 10: It happened, but it wasn't really in the paper.
• 30:50
  Speaker 11: It might have been just a little blurb that was
• 30:52
  Speaker 11: on page nine or whatever. And we agreed that, you know,
• 30:56
  Speaker 11: Cheryl and I got together and we talked and we
• 30:58
  Speaker 11: said that we would focus on you know, McKenna had
• 31:01
  Speaker 11: a special need sister, and she has a brother who
• 31:03
  Speaker 11: currently plays hockey and NCAA D three up in New Hampshire,
• 31:08
  Speaker 11: and we agreed that we would.
• 31:09
  Speaker 10: Focus on those two, you know, not really do basically what.
• 31:14
  Speaker 11: I'm doing now that you know, we would focus on
• 31:16
  Speaker 11: our family and what we had left and just try
• 31:18
  Speaker 11: and push through it. And then very quickly when we
• 31:21
  Speaker 11: found out what had happened to McKenna, because we didn't
• 31:23
  Speaker 11: realize until some friends that had received the text or
• 31:26
  Speaker 11: phone calls or saw Instagram or TikTok came forward what
• 31:29
  Speaker 11: had really happened, and very quickly we realized that you know,
• 31:34
  Speaker 11: this couldn't be kept silent, that we needed to get
• 31:36
  Speaker 11: out in front of it. And you know, some media
• 31:39
  Speaker 11: called the Lighting High School Tampa Bay Lightning run the
• 31:43
  Speaker 11: high school, local high school hockey league, they call, they
• 31:46
  Speaker 11: had concerns.
• 31:48
  Speaker 10: So we got out in front of it really quickly.
• 31:51
  Speaker 11: And you know, I mean that would be my advice
• 31:54
  Speaker 11: to Sammy, and you know, Sam would be that, you know, there's.
• 31:58
  Speaker 10: A large group of us. We're no longer silent.
• 32:01
  Speaker 11: We've become vocal, We've become active, and unfortunately the group
• 32:06
  Speaker 11: just continues to grow.
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: We're charges ever brought against mcanna's bullies.
• 32:11
  Speaker 11: No so Interestingly enough, I dug through did a little
• 32:15
  Speaker 11: bit of research in that and Indiana, similar political environment
• 32:19
  Speaker 11: and men to that. In Florida, they have a similar
• 32:21
  Speaker 11: bullying law. The bullying law is really tied up in
• 32:24
  Speaker 11: the education Code and what it does is that's parameters
• 32:29
  Speaker 11: for how the school system has to react, some steps
• 32:32
  Speaker 11: they have to take, defines bullying, that sort of stuff.
• 32:35
  Speaker 11: Bullying really in Florida and as far as.
• 32:38
  Speaker 10: I can tell, in Indiana, as the Panella's.
• 32:40
  Speaker 11: County Sheriff's office, let me know is not a crime.
• 32:44
  Speaker 11: Charges were never brought. Law enforcement is very reluctant to
• 32:49
  Speaker 11: get active in this space. You know, there's several names
• 32:54
  Speaker 11: that come to mind, Rebecca Sedgewick, I forget the girl's
• 32:58
  Speaker 11: name in the Panhandle. Charge were brought in both those cases.
• 33:02
  Speaker 11: They were very much more egregious and longer runner.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: Following up on what Hunter just told us, mckenn's dad
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: Karen started joining me renounced psychologist, TV radio trauma expert Karen.
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: That just leaves the parents with even more feelings of
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: helplessness because there are laws on the book to investigate
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: criminally and charge bullies, but it won't happen. It's not happening. Karen,
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: please help Sammy's dad.
• 33:35
  Speaker 12: I am so sorry, and your feelings of hopelessness and helplessness,
• 33:41
  Speaker 12: think of that. That's exactly what was happening to Sammy.
• 33:44
  Speaker 12: That Sammy felt like he had nowhere to turn, and
• 33:48
  Speaker 12: neither did your daughter, the other daughter who killed herself.
• 33:51
  Speaker 12: And I want you to know, Nancy, that people children
• 33:56
  Speaker 12: who are cyber bullied are four times more.
• 34:00
  Speaker 13: Likely to commit suicide.
• 34:02
  Speaker 12: That it is that ramp into an awful and a
• 34:06
  Speaker 12: problem that's happening right now. And Leez, do not go
• 34:10
  Speaker 12: over what you should have done, could have done. I
• 34:13
  Speaker 12: know you do it, Nancy, it's a normal action.
• 34:17
  Speaker 13: But there is absolutely nothing that you could have done.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: It's the school.
• 34:23
  Speaker 13: Those students should have been taken care.
• 34:25
  Speaker 10: Of, removed.
• 34:27
  Speaker 12: He was there to be helped and protected, not to
• 34:31
  Speaker 12: feel like he had a hide in the closet. Think
• 34:33
  Speaker 12: about that situation. It's so dreadful, unnecessary, not.
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: Okay, mister Toys, Tyler Hunter and all of our guests.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: There just doesn't seem a way through this.
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: But there is a way, mister toysh tell me your
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: message tonight.
• 34:57
  Speaker 4: Well, I've said before, I don't want to turn the
• 35:00
  Speaker 4: TV on and see more crying parents. It's wrong that
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: we do need a place to turn and we need
• 35:09
  Speaker 4: somebody to fight.
• 35:12
  Speaker 5: Someone that I don't even know.
• 35:14
  Speaker 4: Started a petition on change dot org for Sammy's Bullying Act.
• 35:20
  Speaker 4: This is something that needs to be done at the
• 35:22
  Speaker 4: federal level to make sure the states are held accountable
• 35:24
  Speaker 4: for the laws that they do put into place. Something
• 35:30
  Speaker 4: needs to be done at that level to ensure a change.
• 35:35
  Speaker 4: You know, all these kids, all of them feel like
• 35:38
  Speaker 4: they have no way to fight back. They're going to
• 35:40
  Speaker 4: be in trouble if they do something, you know. I mean,
• 35:43
  Speaker 4: you have to be able to protect yourself. And if
• 35:46
  Speaker 4: you feel like there is no way you're going to
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: protect yourself.
• 35:50
  Speaker 5: This is I guess I you know, And like, I.
• 35:53
  Speaker 4: Don't even know how Sammy would know anything about any
• 35:59
  Speaker 4: of this, you know, it just he was a beautiful
• 36:04
  Speaker 4: child who loved being a kid.
• 36:05
  Speaker 5: He was he was a kid. I don't I don't
• 36:12
  Speaker 5: know how, you know.
• 36:13
  Speaker 4: That's that's one thing that I'm hoping to gain with
• 36:17
  Speaker 4: Hunter and the other parents that this has happened to
• 36:21
  Speaker 4: you know, how can we actually stop this?
• 36:25
  Speaker 5: There's no hope.
• 36:26
  Speaker 4: It's just like it's just like to me, them releasing
• 36:31
  Speaker 4: their statement. You know, they never came here and told
• 36:34
  Speaker 4: us how sorry they are. They never reached out to
• 36:38
  Speaker 4: say I feel your pain, were here for you. It
• 36:41
  Speaker 4: was just instantly, well, we didn't know anything about it.
• 36:45
  Speaker 4: It's obviously got to be the parent's fault. Something at home.
• 36:48
  Speaker 4: You know, they never reported this to us, and then
• 36:52
  Speaker 4: they're just allowed to lie because there's no documentation.
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: You know, if you called them from your cell phone
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: as even once there's documentation and as far as charges go,
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: I want to see that school bus video because I
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: guarantee you Sammy was not the aggressor. That was a
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: culmination of years of bullying. And you mentioned at the
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: get go where your son had gotten a text or
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: a message of some sort saying just wait till Monday,
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: you're gonna get it. There are ways to prove this case.
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: I am not going to rest until there are charges
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: against these bullies because until charges are brought, bullies and
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: the pain and misery they call it cause it's all
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: going to be swept under the rug, and children like
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: Sammy will continue to suffer. Some people, people that are
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: maybe more cunning or evil than the rest of us,
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: they won't stop until we make them stop, until we
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: make their parents acknowledge what their children are doing at school.
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: Sammy is gone and his family has a life sentence
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: of living without him. But by God, we can make
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: a difference, and we will make a difference. Please join us,
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: and if you or your child is suffering and having
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: thoughts of suicide, please dial or chat toll free nine
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: eight eight, a universal suicide hotline when you don't know
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: what else to do, And please visit Sammy's Bullying Act
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: on change dot.
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: Org to make a difference.
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: For now, we can pray for Sammy's family, we can
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: pray for McKenna's family, and also we can fight. Thank
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: you for being with us tonight. Our prayers go on.
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: Good night, friend,