The local district attorney, sheriff’s office and Coffee County school officials have come under fire following the suicide of a Manchester, Tennessee, teen whose classmates leaked intimate communications he had with another boy on social media platforms.
Coffee County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Frank Watkins said detectives are investigating allegations that bullying led Channing Smith, 16, to take his own life. Smith was found dead at his home on Sept. 22 hours after the messages were shared on Instagram and Snapchat.
The death devastated the teen’s family and his older brother, Joshua Smith, said in a New York Times phone interview Monday that his brother “was absolutely humiliated.” He described the messages as “very explicit.”
Attempts to reach Joshua Smith on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Watkins said the specter of cyberbullying arose at the very beginning.