Adriana Kuch can be seen in her obituary photograph. She took her own life on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023 – two days after being brutally beaten by a group of bullies at school in New Jersey.
A 14-year-old New Jersey girl died by suicide last week after being assaulted by four fellow students who face criminal charges in the school hallway attack that was caught on video.
Adriana O. Kuchs, fond of horses and who once rescued a neighbor’s young child from drowning in a swimming pool, was found dead at her home in New Jersey on Feb. 3.
“She adored all animals, she helped children with special needs, she loved jogging with her brothers, and was a true nature lover,” her obituary reads. “Adriana also enjoyed her walks in the woods, skateboarding, riding dune buggies and dirt bikes.”
The freshman and her boyfriend were attacked on Feb. 1 between classes at Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township, N.J.
One of the assailants can be seen in video footage throwing a liquid at the victims’ faces as another pushes Adriana down. At least two attackers slam the girl into the lockers. Then three assailants surround her. They swing their backpacks as Adriana scrambles on the floor.
The girls shove and drag her. One girl can be seen grabbing Adriana by her hair. Eventually, two adults can be seen stopping the attack.
One girl can be heard saying, “That’s what you get, you stupid a– b—.”
“She was like a daughter to me,” the mother of the girl saved by Adriana Kuch told NBC News. “She was at my house every day.”
School officials have been criticized for how the incident was initially handled.
“The students are a symptom,” her father, Michael Kuch, told CBS News. “The school and their leadership is a cancer.”
He said school officials did not call the police after the attack, which school officials dispute.
“We’ve always notified the police, but we don’t always press the charges,” Central Regional School District & Seaside Heights Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides told Manhattan-based NBC flagship station WNBC. “It depends on the severity of the charges.”
The four girls have been suspended, the superintendent told various media outlets.
On Friday, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said in a statement provided to NBC News that each of the girls had been criminally charged.
One of the students has been charged with aggravated assault, two students have been charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, and one student has been charged with harassment.
“Each juvenile and their guardian was served with a copy of their complaint and are released pending future court appearances,” Billhimer told NBC News.
Their names were not released by law enforcement.
Michael Kuch believes sharing the video of the attack led to mortification and embarrassment that ultimately cost her her life, according to WNBC. He faulted school officials’ initial reaction and said had they acted differently, the video might have been taken down sooner.
“If they called the police and did an investigation, those girls would not have posted videos from school,” Kuch added in comments to CBS News.
Now he wants people to see how his little girl was brutally beaten.
“I want the entire world to know what these animals did to my daughter,” Michael Kuch told WNBC.