Police said a male student knew Gabbie Green was suicidal but did not tell an adult or law enforcement, and a female student admitted to starting rumors and trying to cause problems for her.
PANAMA CITY BEACH — Hours before 12-year old Gabbie Green hanged herself in her closet Jan. 10, she reached out.
She was having a bad day, she told a male classmate at Surfside Middle School, according to a report released by the Panama City Beach Police Department. She told him she had tried to hang herself earlier and sent him photos of red marks around her neck. During a video chat, she talked about wanting to kill herself.
“[Redacted] responded by saying something to the effect of, ‘if you’re going to do it, just do it’ and ended the call,” the report reads.
On Monday, PCBPD arrested two juveniles, the 12-year-old male classmate and a 12-year old female, and charged them with cyberstalking in connection with Gabbie’s death, a first-degree misdemeanor in Florida punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Their investigation, however, found that while cyberbullying was occurring at the time of her death, it was not the sole cause of her suicide.
The reports, released Tuesday night, shed light on the events leading up to Gabbie’s death and how police zeroed in on the two suspects.
Police responded to the Green family's home about 5:15 p.m. Jan. 10 to reports of an unresponsive juvenile. Interviews with family and friends on scene led investigators to learn about possible cyberbullying as a contributing factor. Beach police reached out to the two juveniles named, and with their parents’ permission, they were interviewed.
During the interview, the female suspect allegedly admitted to trying to cause problems between Gabbie and other classmates, saying she started rumors about Gabbie having sexually transmitted diseases, calling her vulgar names and threatening to “expose” personal and sensitive details about Gabbie’s life, according to the report. After she learned that Gabbie committed suicide, she told officers she deleted all of the messages from her phone and social media platforms “because she did not want to get in trouble.”
During his interview, the male suspect said that after he disconnected the video call, he “immediately regretted” his statement and tried to get in touch with Gabbie, but was unable to reach her. Despite her making suicidal threats, he said he did not contact an adult or law enforcement.
Gabbie’s cell phone, as well as the cell phones of the other two juveniles, were collected as evidence.
With the two juveniles’ arrests, PCBPD said in the report they consider the case closed.
Gabbie’s parents, Shane and Tanya Green, have said in interviews that Gabbie had been relentlessly bullied on social media and via text messages by the two individuals over the last several months. They, and others, have lain much of the blame on the school district and administration at Gabbie’s schools, saying they did not do enough to address the bullying.