Boy, 11, kills himself after months of bullying and ‘embarrassment' from his own teacher who called him ‘stupid': lawsuit
Louis Johnson, 11, shot himself 'after enduring months of bullying and public embarrassment' from fifth-grade teacher Donna White, according to the lawsuit filed by his parents against the Marion County School Board on April 21.
White, a former teacher at Legacy Elementary School in Ocala, called Johnson 'stupid' and said he 'didn't know anything,' and also recruited other students to bully him, according to the wrongful death lawsuit documents, as seen by WCBJ.
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'I don't know why you're talking because you don't even know anything. You don't know nothing in this class. Isn't that right, kids?' White told Johnson, the lawsuit alleged.
4 Florida schoolboy Louis Johnson, 11, took his own life after being 'bullied' by a teacher, a lawsuit alleges.
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Johnson's parents repeatedly reported White's actions to the school and the school board, but they did nothing, according to the lawsuit.
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White's actions caused Johnson to suffer from depression and anxiety, culminating in him attempting to take his own life on April 27, 2023, as per the court documents.
Johnson died two days later in the hospital from his injuries, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
Johnson's parents handed out suicide prevention fliers in the school following their son's death, laying out more allegations against White.
4 Johnson shot himself using his parents' gun, dying two days later of his injuries.
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The lawsuit names the teacher as Donna White, but the flyer produced by Johnson's parents, as well as school district records, list her as Dawn White.
White started working in the school district in 2009, where she taught at Legacy Elementary, moving to other schools before returning to Legacy for a second spell as a fourth-grade teacher between 2017 and 2021 and a third and final spell between 2022 and 2023, the Ocala Star Banner reported at the time.
The family moved to Ocala, an hour outside of Orlando, from Virginia shortly before Johnson's death.
Their son had no behavioral problems and had been happy until he moved to Florida, Detective Nick Sutliff, who interviewed the parents at the time, told the Ocala Star Banner.
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4 Following their son's death, Johnson's parents handed out 'suicide prevention' leaflets accusing the teacher of causing their son's suicide.
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The couple own firearms which they kept in a combination gun safe locked in their master bedroom and to which their son didn't know the code, Sutliff said.
But on April 27, Johnson's father, Louis Johnson Jr., had taken his son to work with him on his food truck, and when they arrived home, he placed the handgun, a 9mm Ruger, on the counter.
While he was outside checking that his truck had power, he heard a gunshot, and rushed back in to see his son bleeding and called 911, Sutliff said.
More than two dozen students were interviewed about White's behavior for an investigative report in June 2023, as reported by WCJB at the time.
4 Legacy Elementary School in Ocala did not renew the teacher's contract following a 2023 investigation.
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White would get furious when students got answers wrong and sometimes reduced them to tears, according to the report.
White's 'verbally insulting, humiliating, and embarrassing students' inflicted psychological distress on her victims, the report concluded.
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Marion County Public Schools did not renew White's contract following the investigation.
The school board did not respond immediately to The Post's requests for comment.
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