Death of 16-year-old Nax Benedict in Oklahoma after school fight prompts LGBTQ+ advocates for answers

(CNN) — A 16-year-old man who attended an Oklahoma high school died after the fight, and now that the cause of death is under investigation, there are LGBTQ+ activists who are decrying the magnitude of the hostile environment against this community.

Nex Benedict, whose family says he identified as non-binary, died on Feb. died on 8, family members were told Nex and the transgender student were involved in a fight with others at Owasso High School. Owasso police are investigating what happened.

Nex’s parent and grandmother, Sue Benedict, told The Independent newspaper that Nex was severely beaten and hit his head on the floor during a fight with three older girls in the school’s toilets. Benedict claimed Nex was a victim of bullying at school, but added: “I didn’t know how bad it got.”

“I told him, ‘You have to be strong and look the other way, because these people don’t know who you are’,” Benedict told The Independent.

Owasso police confirmed in a statement that Nex was “taken to the hospital” the day after the incident and was pronounced dead.

Preliminary autopsy information indicates Nex did not die as a result of trauma, Owasso police said in an updated statement Wednesday.

“While the investigation into the collision is ongoing, preliminary information from the medical examiner’s office is that a full autopsy was performed and indicated that the deceased did not die as a result of trauma,” the statement said. Police declined to comment further on the cause of death “until toxicology results and other ancillary tests are received.”

The autopsy report will be available at an unspecified date, police said.

The department also noted: “There was no report of the fight to Owasso police prior to notification at the hospital.”

Nex was in 10th grade and used neutral pronouns, according to his family. “Nex didn’t see himself as a man or a woman,” Benedict told The Independent.

CNN has reached out to the family for comment.

Details of the alleged harassment have emerged

A family member shared text messages Nex wrote with CNN affiliate KOKI shortly after the incident.

“They attacked me at school. 1 vs. 3, I had to go to the emergency room,” Sandesh said. The text message exchange said the girls involved in the fight “were harassing me and my friends and I was tired, so I poured some water on them and all three of them followed me.”

In the exchange, Nex said he was bruised in the fight and received pain medication. He also wrote, “If I still feel dizzy and nauseous in the morning, I may be having a concussion.”

It was not clear from the text messages what the alleged harassment was.

Knox’s death came after many activists criticized Oklahoma officials for actions they believed targeted the LGBTQ+ population.

The state legislature passed a bathroom bill in 2022, requiring all schools, preschool through 12th grade, to use bathrooms and locker rooms of the gender assigned to students on their birth certificates.

Last year, Governor Kevin Stitt issued an executive order requiring government agencies to identify people based on their birth gender rather than their gender identity.

The Owasso school district said Tuesday that it could not share all the details about the incident, but confirmed that “a physical altercation occurred in the bathroom” that was broken up by other students and a staff member.

The district said it did not call an ambulance, but “recommended to a parent that their student visit a medical facility for further investigation.”

The school district noted: “Due to federal privacy laws, we cannot disclose the exact nature of disciplinary action taken against any student.”

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters said the school district will be provided with “all available resources.”

“The safety of our students is my highest priority, and the first responsibility of Oklahoma schools,” Walters said in a statement released Tuesday. “I am sorry for the loss (…) and I pray for God’s comfort for the family and the entire Owasso community.”

A joint statement Tuesday by Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, an organization representing people in the LGBTQ+ community, called for a “full and open investigation into this matter.”

For his part, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said in statements to CNN that “the death of any minor in Oklahoma is a tragedy and those who perpetuate it. Bullying “They should be held accountable for their actions.”

“While we await the results of the investigation, I call on the Owasso Police and Owasso Public Schools to be accountable and transparent with the public,” he added.

With reporting by Whitney Wilde, Taylor Romine and Carol Alvarado