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15-year-old commits suicide after nude video leaked on Snapchat

Posted at 8:22 PM, Jun 10, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-10 20:22:01-04

TAMPA, Fla. — A 15-year-old committed suicide after a nude video of her in the shower was posted to Snapchat.

According to WFLA, Tovonna Holton took a gun from her mother’s purse and killed herself in the bathroom. Just hours before, Tovonna’s mother said she had expressed concern over a nude picture her friends had taken without her permission.

“Tovonna would say, ‘Mommy, I owe them; I owe them’. I said, ‘What do you mean you owe them?’ I couldn’t understand what was wrong,” Levon Holton-Teamer told WFLA.

Tovonna’s aunt Angel Scott took to Facebook in search of answers when she discovered a nude video of Tovonna, taken while she was in the shower.

“Everybody was out there talking about her and calling her names and they said it went up on social media, Snapchat. I’d never heard of that before about 3 something that afternoon,” Scott said.

School officials reported the bullying complaints to authorities, and detectives are now investigating. Wiregrass Ranch High School, where Tovonna was a freshman, provided a crisis team for students earlier this week.

All Tovonna’s family wants now is justice.

“I want them to pay, to feel what we feeling, even if their child is convicted or in trouble they can go visit their child,” Scott said.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).