Samantha Kelly Remembered
The weeks of harassment eventually became too much, her mother said. Samantha went home from school on Nov. 8, 2010 and hanged herself in a community southwest of Detroit.
Her death is part of a wave of teen suicides this year in which bullying seemed to have played a part.
"People wanted to beat her up - people who were friends of Joe," said Ayla Raines, another student at Huron High School, in Huron Township, Mich.
Tarnopolski said their sex was consensual. Police investigated it as a case of statutory rape, but dropped the charges after Kelly's death.
They said Kelly was their only witness.
"All of (those) peers really need to think now more than ever. Was it worth it?" Kelly's mother June Justice told Detroit TV station WJBK after her daughter's death. "I won't be able to take my daughter to the prom. I won't be able to walk her down the aisle. I can't see my first grandbaby born from my daughter."
"People wanted to beat her up - people who were friends of Joe," said Ayla Raines, another student at Huron High School, in Huron Township, Mich.
Tarnopolski said their sex was consensual. Police investigated it as a case of statutory rape, but dropped the charges after Kelly's death.
They said Kelly was their only witness.