The family of a 13-year-old boy who died by suicide five months ago is filing a legal claim against a California school district, alleging that officials failed to adequately address the bullying he endured.
“I watched my son die,” Orsolya Palacios, mother of Gabriel Palacios, said at a news conference announcing the complaint against the Coronado Unified School District on Thursday, Sept. 18, NBC affiliate KSND reported. “Gabriel did not deserve this. No one deserves this, and it needs to be stopped.”
Gabriel, a 7th-grade student at Coronado Middle School, was neurodivergent and had Tourette’s syndrome and ADHD, ABC affiliate KGTV and CBS affiliate KFMB reported. His family said his conditions made him a target for bullying both at school and online.
John Gomez, the family’s attorney, said the alleged bullying escalated after Gabriel accidentally shared a video with his Snapchat contacts that included nude images of himself, KSND reported. Gomez explained that Gabriel made the video due to concerns about an area near his private parts.
According to the family’s legal claim, another student allegedly saved the video and threatened to share it, per KGTV. When the family informed the school, officials said they confronted the other student, who denied any knowledge of the incident, KSND reported.
“To the best of our knowledge, CMS did not take any further action to stop the video, investigate the allegations, or prevent the bullying from continuing,” Gomez said, according to KSND.
The family’s claim also states that Coronado Middle School was aware of Gabriel’s declining emotional state — noting that he ate lunch in a counselor’s office each day to avoid harassment — but did little to intervene, per KGTV.
“My son Gabriel was beautiful, smart, fun and above all, kind and loving,” Orsolya said at the press conference, KFMB reported. She added that she watched her son’s spirit “extinguish” and his confidence “shatter” as the alleged bullying continued.
In a statement shared with PEOPLE one week after the news conference, Coronado Unified School District officials said they held a special board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 25, and “took action to reject” the family’s tort claim.
“Based upon the investigation and information the District has obtained to date, the facts do not support the claims made against the District,” they stated. “There are statements in the claim based on misinformation. While the District cannot comment on details of the misinformation outside of the legal process, the District will fully defend itself and its staff against the claims made.”
The district also shared that officials are “deeply saddened by the death of seventh-grade student Gabriel Palacios in April of 2025 and have extended deepest condolences and support to his family.”
