Phoebe Prince's Final Days: Bullied Girl Suffered "Intolerable" Abuse Before Suicide, Say Court Docs

By: Carlin DeGuerin Miller
Topics: Daily Blotter

Phoebe Prince (Personal Photo)

BOSTON (CBS/AP) Phoebe Prince endured three long months of vicious verbal and electronic attacks at the hands of three classmates before hanging herself in the stairwell of her home, according to recently released court papers.

PICTURES: Phoebe Prince

Prosecutors say that witness accounts paint an "intolerable" campaign of insults, humiliation and, in the final days of Phoebe's life, threats.

Clockwise from top left, Sharon Chanon Velazquez, Sean Mulveyhill, Kayla Narey, Ashley Longe and Austin Renaud. (Facebook)

The court papers also shine a negative light on school officials with witnesses saying that Phoebe was so terrified she went to school administrators because "she was scared and wanted to go home," but that Phoebe told a friend later that no action would be taken.

Ashley Longe, Sharon Chanon Velazquez and Flannery Mullins, all 16, pleaded not guilty through their lawyers Wednesday to civil rights violations and criminal harassment.

Sean Mulveyhill, 17, and Austin Renaud, 18, and Kayla Narey, 17, three other teens charged in connection with Prince's death, also had not guilty pleas entered by lawyers on Tuesday.

The court papers describe what investigators indicate was a pattern of abusive taunts, text messages, Facebook postings, threats, and efforts to corner Phoebe, whose reactions are described variously as fearful, panicked and distraught.

Phoebe is quoted as telling a friend on Jan. 13, one day before she committed suicide, that "school has been close to intolerable lately."

The verbal assaults described by witnesses in the court papers include Longe "screaming at [Ms. Prince] from across the library," calling her at different times an "Irish whore" and "slut."

The day Phoebe committed suicide Longe allegedly threw an empty "Monster Drink" can at her from a moving car, calling her a "whore" and laughing. This apparently was the last straw for Phoebe, according to the court papers, because her younger sister found her hanging in the stairwell of her home later that day.

MORE ON CRIMESIDER
April 8, 2010 - Phoebe Prince Update: 3 More Schoolmates Plead Not Guilty to Bullying Charges
April 6, 2010 - Phoebe Prince Bullying Suicide: 3 Plead Not Guilty
March 30, 2010 - Phoebe Prince Suicide: South Hadley High School Didn't Use Advice to Stop Bullies, Says Expert
March 29, 2010 - Phoebe Prince Update: Nine Teens Charged in Girl's Suicide
February 5, 2010 - Phoebe Prince "Suicide by Bullying": Teen's Death Angers Town Asking Why Bullies Roam the Halls
January 27, 2010 - 15-Year-Old Girl's Suicide May Have Been the Result of Cyberbullying

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by Terminator915 December 6, 2011 8:18 PM EST: The sooner someone hunts these bullies down and grants them the same kindness they gave to Ms. Prince, the sooner other will learn that this is not acceptable behavior....I will look forward to seeing them as the recipients in the next story...I don't believe in a god or forgiveness so, be careful,..the next time you pick on someone be sure it's not someone who will hunt you down first...=) I hope they do...=); Reply to this comment


by kelasings May 26, 2010 7:00 PM EDT: I have one question that I have not heard answered - where was her mother? If my child was going through this, I would have moved her to a new school. Why did her mother not do this? Did the young lady tell her mother? I must be missing something. The outcome of this story was sad because it was preventable. Her mother could have moved her and the young lady could have started over in a new school.; Reply to this comment


by jenblu12 May 7, 2010 2:23 PM EDT: its pretty sad that they bullied her till she hung herself i get bullied all the time and get called names everyday i just pushed it off my shoulders but what they did to her was wrong; Reply to this comment


by Farver4girls April 29, 2010 12:42 AM EDT: I think the girls were motivated by jealousy. They were jealous because Phoebe was so pretty.; Reply to this comment


by GetItHonest April 27, 2010 7:20 PM EDT: Until people stop being grossly narcistic, lazy and all in all lacking in compassion, caring and any morals- things like this are going to continue to happen.

Until people start being held accountable for their actions- things like this are going to continue to happen.

Until mothers and fathers start raising their children to not be insecure and accept that there are going to be people who are better then them (and accept the fact that they did not create God, their children will be imperfect, they will make mistakes- get over it). There will be prettier girls, there will be smarter people, there will be better athletes- things like this are going to continue to happen.

Until America becomes a country where people stop and call 911 when a man is laying bleeding to death on the sidewalk- things like this will continue.

Those little brats need a wake up call- they need to be thrown in to the dregs of society where they belong (because that is what level they are on) and be on the receiving end.

They need to realize that they are horribly ugly not only on the outisde, but on the inside (it's called substance girls- get some or be used for the one thing you're good for...but I'm guessing you're not). Phoebe was a beautiful girl. She had an accent. Hell, I'm 25 and engaged yet I'd probably be intimidated by her. Some fat little trolls from the middle of no where had nothing on her.

They knew it.

And now a family does not have a daughter and a sister.

Society- you officially disgust me.; Reply to this comment


by jnostromo April 23, 2010 4:39 PM EDT: these kids need to serve hard time in jail and juvenile correction facilities. Even today, they will not accapet that they did something wrong and show absolutley no remorse. One of the kids was even arrested severla days ago for drunk driving. What are they kids doing being allowed to roam free? The school district is in cover up mode, the parents of these kids obviously are just like them. Day in day out terrorizing of this girl for 3 months..this is not bullying, but out and out criminal behavior. All the kids should be tried as adults, but 3 of them are being tried as juveniles.. They should be incarcerated while they await their trial. If this had been an inner city group of kids they would be sitting in jail, but these kids obviously have parents who are influential in the community.; Reply to this comment


by jsona April 22, 2010 1:05 AM EDT: I just want to say my heart goes out to this young lady's family. I truly feel that the issues of bullying and emotional abuse between students in schools should be taken more seriously. That's the problem no one is taking it seriously enough, and it's thought of as just being a high school thing, peer pressure, teenage problems etc. No, it isn't this is serious.

I would also like to add here, to anyone who is being bullied or if someone is giving you a hard time everyday in school, in your lives, if you are reading this I am saying this from my own experience hang in there and be strong. It's very hard but possible. You are not alone and there are many people who understand what you're going through, believe me there are.; Reply to this comment


by cherrychew18 April 16, 2010 6:20 PM EDT: Yall trying to make a point like the administration should have done something are obviously not familiar with bullying. High school bullies are almost always loved by the staff. But I do agree that they are seriously disturbed individuals (probably why they also get off on sucking up to the staff and being fake). Hell, in high school, I was "picked on" by a group like this after a girl got word of me saying she was bulimic (when actually it was her friend who told me she was bulimic in the 1st place & then went and told her when I reacted to it). Anyway, my point is that the staff ended up picking on me, too, because they loved this fake *****, but in ways that I could never prove like screening me for any kind of violation (that they ignore everyone else for) every day to try to give me demerits (I just started throwing them out after a while). My life was hell back then...I'm glad I survived and didn't kill myself. I would just claim to be "sick" and not go to school....missed like 1/2 the year.; Reply to this comment


by M4maggie April 15, 2010 10:48 AM EDT: What is wrong with the people who were in charge here? What.. are they afraid of a bunch of teenagers? afraid their car would be defaced or that they wouldn't listen in class??? Afraid of what the bullies parents might say? Have school admins never heard of the word "expulsion?" And this "equal education" garbage... one can get the same education at another school flagged as a bully and forced to get psychological help as a entrance requirement, plus a one strike= expulsion policy put into place. Education is a privilege, not a right. There you all go.. solution.
As horrible as it is for this poor girl to feel that her only out was suicide, It makes one wonder why some students bring weapons to school with full intent to harm. Didn't Columbine open anyone's eyes here? That was also because of out of control bullying. Wake up People! This societal epidemic is taking place on a daily basis not only in our schools but in the workplace and it needs to stop! I'd say before something terrible happens, but that terrible has already happened and we as citizens are openly allowing it to happen again and again and again.. And yet we stand there, all shocked and agog, wondering "how did this happen?? why?? I had no idea"....; Reply to this comment


by lin1945-2009 April 14, 2010 12:06 PM EDT: The death of Phoebe Prince is such a tragedy. It is also a wake-up call to all of America that we cannot allow a few bullies to rule in our schools. It is evident from the information and documents provided for review that this high school allowed a limited number of bullies, students that felt privileged, to run the hallway, library, school grounds and restrooms. Shame on the administrators, especially the principal and vice princpal as well as Superintendent Sayer. To listen to these school officials now it alarming. They do not connect what their indifference and non-action pushed a lovely young woman over the edge. There is enough guilt to go around but along with the school administrators, the six bullies, the parents of these bullies hold some of the guilt on their shoulders. Some knew this was happening and chalked it up to teen-age girls. That is totally irresponsible. I am also guessing the Mulveyhill parents pushed their son to be the big football star and the world would be his . . . wrong, even if he is good on the football field he still needs to be a law-abiding citizen who respects those around him. It is sad to think that if Sean had never dated Phoebe that none of this would have happened. I believe at trial there will be much more discovery and testimony that will hit us all to the core. This tragedy is a life-changing event. It is also a learning event and we MUST learn from it so that another child is saved from such a sad ending. I, personally, think every parent of the six charged should be required to take a course on bullying and each one provide several hundred hours of community service. I don't know how they can face themselves in the mirror each day. It also alarms me at the ongoing use of FB amongst those charged. They are planning their next date or outing and feel a freedom that Phoebe lost. I believe to move forward and begin healing ALL the administrators must be removed or allowed to resign. Sayer is past retirement age and he should go into retirement ASAP. Principal Smith definitely needs to step down as he was out of tune with his school. The vice principal needs to go because that is the person that returned Phoebe to class without helping her deal with her fright. I continue to hope the D.A. will revisit charging a number of the school professionals and perhaps a parent or two.; Reply to this comment