Rebecca Ann Sedwick

Sedwick's mother refuted claims that she was accountable for Rebecca's death and vowed to work with lawmakers in Florida to strengthen anti-bullying laws. However, some experts, like Debbie Johnston, national legislative liaison for Bully Police USA, say that the "laws are there" and that society needs to "have a culture that tells us this is what’s right to do”. The circumstances of Sedwick's death were compared to another Florida teenager that committed suicide after aggressive bullying seven years before. Others have said that, “The problem is not the kids reporting (suicidal thoughts and bullying), the problem is usually the adults who do not listen and follow up.” Others have said that parents need to have a greater idea of what their children are doing, both on and off-line, because teenagers cannot self-regulate.

After returning to the public school system and transferring to another school to give her a fresh start, Rebecca was given her mobile phone privileges back and she opened accounts on services such as Kik, Ask.fm and Voxer. Snapshots later emerged of anonymous comments that were written to Rebecca on Ask.fm saying things like “Nobody cares about you”, “you seriously deserve to die” and “drink bleach and die.” It was later determined that, as the bullying grew worse, Rebecca was beginning to have suicidal thoughts. These thoughts were discovered to have begun about a year prior to her death. The investigation also showed new conflicts with students at school and Rebecca was withdrawn from public school in February 2013.

On September 9, 2013, Sedwick was found dead after jumping off an abandoned cement plant. At the time of her death, Sedwick was a grade 8 student at Crystal Lake Middle School in Lakeland, Florida.

On September 17, 2013, 12-year-old Katelyn Roman and 14-year-old Guadalupe Shaw, were charged with aggravated stalking, accused of bullying Sedwick during an argument over a boy. The charges would later be dropped due to a lack of evidence.

Rebecca Ann Sedwick (October 19, 2000 – September 9, 2013) was a 12-year-old American student at Crystal Lake Middle School in Lakeland, Florida who committed suicide by jumping off a concrete silo tower, just 1 month and 10 days before her 13th birthday. Investigation into her death led to a conclusion of in-person and cyberbullying contributing to the decision to take her own life. Sedwick's family later filed a lawsuit in relation to her death.