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The father of the 17-year-old Los Angeles high school student who jumped to his death over a fourth-floor railing amid claims he was bullied at school says his son’s alleged tormentor should be held accountable.
“He should be accountable for what he did,” William Amaya, 40, father of Benjamin Franklin High School student Xavier Nungaray-Martinez, told the California Post while protesting the lack of law enforcement on school grounds outside an LA Unified School District board meeting Tuesday.
A boy accused of beating Xavier has not been publicly identified, and no charges have been filed against him.
“Bullying was a factor. I don’t think no one in their right mind would jump off the fourth floor,” Amaya said. “This would have been prevented if enforcement was on campus.”
He added that neither the school, the district nor the Los Angeles Police Department has contacted him or his family.
“Our hearts are with family, friends, and the Franklin High School community as they grieve this loss,” an LAUSD spokesperson told The Post. “However, we are unable to comment about individual circumstances due to confidentiality and privacy laws.”
Xavier died Sept. 30 from multiple blunt traumatic injuries to the head and torso, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said, ruling his death a suicide.
Amaya declined to say whether the family had sought legal representation or planned any action against the district, saying they would issue a statement later. His first priority, he said, was laying his son to rest.
The LAPD, which is investigating the teen’s death, said last week that bullying may not have been a factor.
“At this preliminary stage of the investigation, detectives have not identified evidence establishing a connection between allegations of bullying and the student’s death,” the department said.
The teen’s grieving father told The Post his son was “not suicidal.”
“He was not,” Amaya said. “He was looking forward to start working, he had plans.”
Disturbing video of Xavier’s final moments showed the teen being verbally taunted and repeatedly punched by a classmate inside a classroom as an elderly teacher desperately tried to intervene.
After getting back to his feet, Xavier could be seen running into an outdoor hallway, with the other student following. Moments later, the teenager threw himself over a fourth-floor railing.
Amaya, who also graduated from Franklin High School, said conditions had deteriorated since his time there in the early 2000s.
“Things are worse at Franklin now,” he said.
He recalled that at least two police officers were on duty at the school when he attended, breaking up fights, handcuffing students and enforcing discipline. He said that level of police presence needs to return.
The LAUSD school board voted unanimously on Feb. 16, 2021, to remove school police officers from campuses and replace them with “school climate coaches.”
“Right now it’s not just bring back the police, it’s bring back the police and have them be on campus every time our kids are on campus right now,” Stephanie Amaya, 37, Xavier’s aunt, told The Post.
“We need every single school and every single kid to have a chance and feel protected,” she added. “We need accountability, we need extra police, we need protection for our kids in school.”
Stephanie Amaya also organized a petition calling on the LAUSD to improve security at schools across LA.
The petition alleges that Xavier was assaulted during class without timely intervention from security and that students recorded the assault and his fatal plunge. It calls on the district to install security cameras, place trained police officers on every campus, improve security staff training, provide more walkie-talkies to campus staff and install safer railings on every floor.
The petition has garnered more than 680 signatures, and the family hopes to collect more before presenting it to the school board.
As of Tuesday afternoon, a GoFundMe campaign launched to help Xavier’s family cover funeral costs had raised more than $189,000 of its $200,000 goal.