For two hours late Sunday night, Naika Venant, a petite 14-year-old with a beautiful smile, planned, prepared and ultimately killed herself while streaming the entire event live on Facebook.
Nakia hung herself in her foster parents’ bathroom, according to the Florida Department of Children & Families. In a two-hour long video, Venant can be seen making a noose out of a scarf, and while the Miami Herald reported that the video abruptly ended from there, friends say that the whole thing played out on Facebook Live.
“We are absolutely horrified and devastated by the news of this young girl’s death,” Mike Carroll, of the Florida DFC, told the Miami Herald. “We will do everything we can to support this family and all those who cared for her as they begin to heal from this tragedy.”
You May Also Like
According to the Miami Herald, one of Naika’s friends saw the live feed that showed her hanging in the bathroom, but could not get to the correct address in time because of multiple known addresses. The friend called Miami-Dade Police. Officers showed up at the friend’s house. She then gave them an incorrect address in Miami. Miami Gardens police spokeswoman Petula Burks explained that residents at that address gave police the address of her foster home in Miami Gardens.
Miami Gardens officers found her hanging, while her foster parents were asleep in their bedroom. They tried to resuscitate her, as did a fire-rescue crew. All efforts to revive Naika were unsuccessful and she was taken to Jackson North Hospital, Burks said.
PREVENTING BLACK YOUTH SUICIDE [VIDEO]:
In 2016, researchers found that suicide rates have doubled for Black children while declining for White children. This are the first recorded data in history for which Black suicide rates surpass that of other race groups.
Researchers looked at the suicide rates among children ages 5 to 11 between 1993 and 2012. The rates overall did not change over these years, but the rates among black boys rose from 1.78 to 3.47 per 1 million.
You May Also Like
The suicide rates among girls, although about five times lower than those for boys, followed the same racial trend. The rates among black girls increased from 0.68 to 1.23 per 1 million, although the rise was not statistically significant. Meanwhile the rates among white girls appeared to be stable, at about 0.25 per million.
While suicide is pretty rare in most kids before puberty, African American children tend to go through puberty at a younger age. Research suggests that children are more likely to harm themselves after puberty.
Whatever the case, we all need to be aware of the warning signs of youth suicide. Here are some below:
1. They alk about wanting to die, be dead, or about suicide, or are they cutting or burning themselves?
2. They feel like things may never get better, seeming like they are in terrible emotional pain (like something is wrong deep inside but they can't make it go away), or they are struggling to deal with a big loss in their life?
3. They have withdrawn from everyone and everything, have become more anxious or on edge, seem unusually angry.
4. They show worrisome behavioral cues or marked changes in behavior. Specifically, this includes significant:
- Changes in sleep (increased or decreased)
- Anger or hostility that seems out of character or out of context
- Recent increased agitation or irritability
Naika was described by her friends as smart academically, loved to smile and had lots of charisma. She will be missed dearly.
