Aiden Rivera Schaeff

Meet Aiden Rivera Schaeff.  Aiden was 17 years old, just one month shy of his 18th birthday when he committed suicide on April 22 of 2010.  Aiden was female-to-male transgendered, and had begun his transition in high-school. 

According to one of his best friends, Ava, he had endured constant bullying in high-school, until he finally dropped out two months into his senior year.

Said Ava in her It 'get's better video' in his honor: "I know that there are a ton of people out there, who like Aiden, they're  amazing and just beautiful, and they're loved, and they can't see it because they have to deal with so much hate every day."



Ava's 'It Gets Better' video for Aiden:




There is a permanent page set up in his memory at: http://aidenriveraschaeff.com/

His obituary is at: http://yourlifemoments.ca/sitepages/obituary.asp?oId=387072

Sources:
http://yourlifemoments.ca/sitepages/obituary.asp?oId=387072
http://aidenriveraschaeff.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0lGt-jeqIo&feature=player_embedded

Joshua Wilkerson

Meet Joshua Wilkerson, age 18.  Wilkerson’s bound and burned body was found in a field in Pearland Texas on Wednesday Nov 17th after a 24 hour search.

Hermilio Moralez

Hermilio Moralez, 19, was charged Thursday with murder in the death of Joshua Wilkerson.  Authorities now say that Joshua Wilkerson, 18, was beaten with a large wooden rod and that his body was burned.






From the story:

According to court documents, Wilkerson gave Moralez a ride home from school Tuesday and Moralez stated that Wilkerson began to make sexual advances towards him. Moralez said they got out of the truck and began to fight when Wilkerson grabbed a large wooden rod and tried to hit him. Moralez said he took the piece of wood from Wilkerson and began to hit him with it. He said Wilkerson was not moving afterwards.

The police report provides more detailed information.  It's a pdf encoded image so I cannot cut and paste portions of it, but basically:

Moralez got into a fight with Wilkerson on the patio of Moralez' fathers home after being given a ride home from school by Wilkerson.  According to Moralez, Wilkerson made a pass at him.

During this fight, Wilkerson was beaten with a wooden pole.  Police have recovered the pole.

Afterwards, Moralez bound the hands and feet of Wilkerson, and took him to a field in Wilkerson's pickup truck.  There he set fire to the body.  He then discarded Wilkerson's backpack and shoes in a dumpster, and abandoned Wilkerson's pickup truck near a bar in Pearland.

When police found Moralez walking along a road, he was arrested and eventually told the story, as well as leading police to the body.  The body was partially burned, with the feet and hands bound.

According to Wilkerson's mother, the two had been friends and had known each other for about 5 years.  Wilkerson had frequently provided a ride home for Moralez.

More information becoming available:
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/101118-pearland-teen-arrest
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7797238


Sources:
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/101118-pearland-teen-arrest
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7797238
http://www.dallasvoice.com/breaking-pearland-teen-beaten-death-body-burned-antigay-hate-crime-1052971.html
http://www.dallasvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/pearland-teen-probable-cause.pdf

Brandon Bitner

Meet Brandon Bitner, age 14.  Brandon killed himself on Friday, November 5th by jumping in front of a tractor-trailer, after leaving a suicide note, and walking nearly 13 miles from his home.

From the story:

There seems to be little doubt in the students’ minds why Bitner did what he did.

“It was because of bullying,” friend Takara Jo Folk wrote in a letter to The Daily Item.

“It was not about race, or gender, but they bullied him for his sexual preferences and the way he dressed. Which,” she said, “they wrongly accused him of.”

His death came just days after an anti-bullying assembly at the high school, which, according to district Superintendent Wesley Knapp, was not held in response to any specific problems at the school, but because it is an issue Principal Cynthia Hutchinson has always felt strongly about.

After the assembly, according to student Briana Boyer in another letter to The Daily Item, “No one took it seriously, and joked around about it.”

Former Midd-West student Erin Barnett sent a letter as well, blaming the school, saying that when students report bullying, “Nothing is done.”

“Bullying should be addressed in every school, and should have a punishment,” Barnett said.

“I do not appreciate … kids bullying others for their own gratification,” Folk wrote. “Because of bullying, one of my closest friends took his own life.”

“I am writing this (because) Midd-West School District has bullies, and kids who are bullied are not okay.”

Other high school students on Friday described Bitner as extremely gifted.

“He was very talented,” said sophomore Alley Sharp, of Middleburg, as she remembered an “Evanascence” song he played on his violin at a middle school talent show, wowing the crowd.

Here is a link to a Memorial facebook page set up for him: http://www.facebook.com/pages/RIP-Brandon-Bitner/163850276981688?v=wall&_fb_noscript=1

Sources:
http://dailyitem.com/0100_news/x603547374/Bullied-student-kills-self
http://www.shewired.com/Article.cfm?ID=26086
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/11/08/Bullying_Suicide_in_Penn/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/09/national/main7038306.shtml