WEST BRIGHTON — The funeral service for the 13-year-old Staten Island boy who committed suicide after being bullied in school will be held this week, according to the funeral home.
A wake for Daniel Fitzpatrick will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Harmon Funeral Home, 571 Forest Ave., in West Brighton.
The funeral Mass for Fitzpatrick will be held at 11 a.m. at the Sacred Heart R.C. Church, at 981 Castleton Ave., on Wednesday, according to the funeral home.
Fitzpatrick, a student at Holy Angels Catholic Academy in Bay Ridge, committed suicide after he was bullied by fellow students, according to a letter he wrote before he died.
His father claims in a video posted online that school staff did nothing to stop the abuse.
"He and I went to the school, went to the principal," his father, Daniel Fitzpatrick, said in a video posted to Facebook on Saturday.
"All I got was, and all he got was, 'You'll be fine. Is he in counseling? You have to try harder, Danny.'"
A GoFundMe campaign started by Fitzpatrick's sister to help cover the funeral costs had raised more than $100,000 as of Monday afternoon and the excess funds will be donated to anti-bullying and suicide awareness groups, according to the fundraising page.
Fitzpatrick was found dead Thursday in his family's West Brighton attic by his older sister after he wrapped a belt around his neck and hung himself, the New York Daily News reported.
The boy wrote a letter in July naming a group of sixth-graders who allegedly fought and tormented him in school, while the principal or staff did nothing to help.
"I wanted to get out," the note, obtained by the Daily News, said. "I begged and pleaded."
A spokeswoman for the diocese told DNAinfo New York over the weekend that the school tried to address the family's concerns, including giving counseling to Fitzpatrick.
One of the students accused of bullying was suspended for two days and the school's principal, Rosemarie McGoldrick, met with all of Fitzpatrick's classmates to discuss bullying, the spokeswoman said.
In his video posted to Facebook, Fitzpatrick's father called the boy a "kind, gentle soul" and his tormentors "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," said Daniel Fitzpatrick.
"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."
