“Started beating the s*it out of me”: Bodycam footage shows non-binary teen Nex Benedict describe fight at high school bathroom a day before death

On February 8, 2024, 16-year-old Nex Benedict of Oklahoma, who identified as non-binary, passed away following a physical altercation at Owasso High School the day before.

Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of bullying. Readers' discretion is advised.

NBC News reported that Nex told authorities that they threw water at three fellow students who had been bullying them, and those students retaliated by beating them up.

CNN reported that authorities in Oklahoma released body camera footage that shows the 10th grader and their guardian talking with an officer about the altercation, providing further details about it prior to their death. In the bodycam footage, Nex Benedict is heard saying:

"They got my legs out from under me and got me on the ground and started beating the sh*t out of me."

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Nex Benedict's cause of death is yet to be determined

NBC News reported that, as per bodycam footage, on February 7, 2024, at 3:31 pm, Nex Benedict's mother, Sue Benedict, contacted authorities from Bailey Medical Centre, and an officer interviewed both of them at the hospital for around 15 minutes. In that interview, Nex informed the officer that they met the students involved in the altercation at the in-school detention, where they had to serve for a week for bringing a vape pen to school.

According to the report by NBC News, Nex stated that the three students involved in the fight had been picking on them and their friends because of the way they dressed, and then when Nex went into the bathroom, one of the three students mocked them. After this, Nex threw water at their fellow students, and the situation took a violent turn. In the bodycam footage, Nex said:

"And so I went up there and I poured water on them, and then all three of them came at me. They came at me. They grabbed on my hair. I grabbed onto them. I threw one of them into a paper towel dispenser and then they got my legs out from under me and got me on the ground.

CNN reported that one of Nex’s friends attempted to help them during the brutal beatings by the three students involved, but Nex blacked out and did not recall what happened next. The fight was broken up by other fellow students and a faculty member.

According to the report by CNN, during the interview, the officer informed Nex and their mother that as they threw liquid on someone, it could be presented in court as assault and the action that initiated the altercation. They decided not to press charges.

NBC News reported that in a statement, the Owasso Police Department mentioned that preliminary details from an autopsy report reveal that Nex Benedict's death was not the result of trauma. A toxicology report is still pending, and an official autopsy is also yet to be released.

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The death of Nex Benedict has prompted demands for justice from LGBTQ community

NBC News reported that the death of Nex Benedict led to vigils across the country, numerous social media posts, tributes, and demands for justice from LGBTQ people. A part of the community also believes that Oklahoma’s anti-LGBTQ policies play a role in creating an unsafe school environment for students like Nex. The CEO of GLAAD, an LGBTQ media advocacy group, Sarah Kate Ellis, said:

"It is haunting to hear Nex Benedict, in their own words, describe how school and state leaders failed, at every level of leadership, to keep them safe from bullying and harm. Less than 24 hours later, Nex would collapse and die."

The co-director of outreach at the Transgender Advocacy Coalition of Oklahoma, Asher Aven, told NBC News:

"We as an organization and as a community are mourning greatly for this loss. We need justice for Nex."

A GoFundMe fundraiser campaign has been set up to help with funeral expenses for Nex Benedict, and it has raised over $152,000 with about 4,400 donations.