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School Did Nothing to Help Bullied Teen Who Took His Own Life, Dad Claims

By Paul DeBenedetto | August 13, 2016 1:35pm | Updated on August 15, 2016 8:37am
 Daniel Fitzpatrick, 13, killed himself after incessant bullying, and his school did nothing to help, his father said.
Daniel Fitzpatrick, 13, killed himself after incessant bullying, and his school did nothing to help, his father said.
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STATEN ISLAND — A 13-year-old Staten Island boy committed suicide last week after being bullied by fellow students, and his father claims the school administration did nothing to stop the abuse.

Daniel Fitzpatrick and his father, also named Daniel, asked administrators at Holy Angels Catholic Academy in Bay Ridge to stop the torment, to no avail, according to a video the father posted to Facebook Saturday.

"He and I went to the school, went to the principal," Fitzpatrick said in the video. "All I got was, and all he got was, 'You'll be fine. Is he in counseling? You have to try harder, Danny.'"

Fitzpatrick was found dead in his family's attic by his 17-year-old sister late Thursday, after wrapping a belt around his neck and hanging himself, according to the Daily News.

The boy left behind a note, which his father said was written in July. The note was obtained by the Daily News and posted Friday. 

"I am writing this letter to tell about my experience in Holy Angels Catholic Academy," the note starts off, before naming a group of sixth-graders who allegedly fought and tormented the boy, all while he said the school's principal did nothing to help. 

"I wanted to get out," the note said. "I begged and pleaded."

A spokeswoman for the diocese on Saturday said that the school did try to address the Fitzpatricks' concerns, including through counseling. In addition, one of the students was suspended for two days, and the school's principal, Rosemarie McGoldrick, met with all of the boy's classmates to discuss bullying, she said.

The principal also at one point reached out to Danny's father directly, and NYPD officers were brought into school last year to meet with parents and teachers to talk about bullying, she said.

In a letter to parents informing them of the boy's death, McGoldrick said that all bullying at the school is investigated and addressed, and that the school would continue to raise awareness about bullying. McGoldrick added that she would organize a meeting where parents could voice their concerns, and provide grief counseling to those who need it.

"Like many of yours, my heart is broken," the letter read. "I continue to pray for Daniel and for his family as they cope with this unimaginable loss."

The boy's distraught father took to Facebook early Saturday to air his grief and criticize the school and the parents of the children allegedly involved with the bullying, while remembering his son fondly. 

"I just want to hear him say 'good morning, dad' one more time," Fitzpatrick said. "That way I could tell him, 'good morning, I love you.' Which I did, every day."

In his video, Daniel's father called his son a "kind, gentle soul" who never hurt anyone, and said the children who bullied the 13-year-old were "monsters."

"To the parents of the boys that tormented my son, all I have to say is, I hope you never, never have to feel what my family is going through right now," Fitzpatrick said. "You get to hold your children every night and day for the rest of your lives, and their natural lives. I don't get that anymore. Your little monsters took that from me and my wife, and his sisters."

Fitzpatrick also said no child should be bullied the way his son was, no matter how different they are perceived to be. And he said he hoped the world would take heed of his son's tragic tale.

"My son's story is now out there for the world to see, and for the world to know the pain that he went through," Fitzpatrick said through tears. "I miss my son very much. No parent should have to bury their child. No child should have to go through what my son went through."