Girl, 14, Dies By Suicide Days After Filmed Attack At Ocean County High School

Adriana Olivia Kuch was always a happy child, her father Michael Kuch says.

"She was a wild child," he told Daily Voice on Thursday, Feb. 9. "She wanted to have fun."

On Feb. 3, Kuch and his wife found their 14-year-old daughter dead by suicide in their Bayville home — two days after she was the victim of an attack in the halls of Central Regional High School.

Kuch says these types of attacks at the hands of a group of girls have been an ongoing issue at CRHS, and now, he's calling for action.

"These girls are bullying and harassing and making videos jumping people because it's a trend and they think it's fun," Kuch said. "And the school is not punishing them."

Superintendent Dr. Triantafillos Parlapanides says all four girl involved in the attack were suspended, and that police are called on a "case-by-case basis." In this case, they were not, he said. 

According to News12 three of the four girls involved are facing charges of third-degree felony assault while a fourth was charged with disorderly conduct, the outlet says.

"It's tragic any time a person with a bright future passes away," Parlapanides said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family. We feel for them."

Adriana's peers on Wednesday, Feb. 8 staged a protest.

In October 2022, a lawsuit was filed against the Central Regional School District, the high school and various district administrators saying that neither was a proper investigation launched nor were appropriate actions taken to address threats of a physical attack on a different female student.

A group of other students with a history of harassment followed that student through the halls, taunting and threatening her with violence, the suit alleges.

In January 2022, the student was attacked in the halls by her peers, struck in the head, neck and back — just as one of the girls had previously threatened, according to the lawsuit.

"The entirety of the assault was filmed by [redacted], who, along with [redacted], later posted video of the assault on a social media platform where it was displayed in a mocking, derisive manner for anyone to see," the lawsuit reads.

The victim as a result suffered "severe and permanent physical and psychological injuries," the lawsuit reads.

In Adriana's case, a 30-second clip shows a group of four girls attacking her in a hallway. She falls to the ground. A teacher briefly comes out of a classroom, and then goes back inside, as Adriana's boyfriend tries to intervene.

Eventually, two male staff members pull the girls off of Adriana.

Kuch says administrators advised the family to keep Adriana home from school the day after her attack. He spent that evening with Adriana, he said, urging her to ignore her attackers.

The last time Kuch and his wife saw Adriana was on the family's security camera the night of Feb. 2, getting a snack and a drink, the night before she was set to return to school.

The next morning, she was missing from her bed. Dead, by suicide, he said.

"The school doesn't take this seriously," Kuch said. "They are not protecting our kids."

Click here for Adriana Kuch's complete obituary.

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