- Omotayo Adeoye, 17, drowned herself in New York’s Hudson River in 2014
- She was accused of cheating on a German language test at Harlem’s High School for Math, Science and Engineering
- The humiliated teenager was yelled at by her teacher before she wrote a suicide note on her exam paper
- Her mother successfully sued New York City claiming the school did not do enough to stop the suicidal teen from leaving the school grounds
- She was awarded $750,000 in a Manhattan Supreme Court settlement last week
- The teacher was cleared of any wrongdoing in the months after the girl’s death
A mother has been awarded a $750,000 settlement after her 17-year-old daughter killed herself after she was accused of cheating on a high school test.
Omotayo Adeoye drowned herself in New York’s Hudson River in 2014 after taking a German language quiz at Harlem’s High School for Math, Science and Engineering.
The teenager had been yelled at by German teacher Eva Malikova after she was accused of peeking at her cellphone during the exam.
Omotayo Adeoye (above) drowned herself in New York’s Hudson River in 2014 after taking a German language quiz at Harlem’s High School for Math, Science and Engineering
A humiliated Omotayo then wrote a suicide note on her test paper before asking to go to the bathroom and never returning.
The teenager had been yelled at by German instructor Eva Malikova (above) after she was accused of peeking at her cellphone during the exam
‘What am I doing? Why am I doing it? This is not me. I’m losing my hard earned credibility for some meaningless quiz. I am better than this. This is beyond stupid,’ she scrawled on the back of her test paper.
‘I just want to go away forever on the bottom of the river.’
Omotayo, who couldn’t swim, then walked to the Hudson River’s edge at West 165th Street, put her ID down on the river bank and jumped into the water.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of Omotayo’s mother Mounsurat Adeoye, which was seeking $10million, claimed that had the teacher had ‘publicly shamed and humiliated’ the the girl in the classroom.
Court documents, obtained by the New York Daily News, stated that employees failed to stop the teenager from leaving the school after finding her note.
Omotayo was a promising student at Harlem’s High School for Math, Science and Engineering
It also stated that the school was aware of Omotayo’s previous suicide attempts.
The school and German teacher were cleared of any wrongdoing in the months after Omotayo’s death.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James d’Auguste ruled in favor of the girl’s mother last week calling it ‘an excellent outcome’.
Anyone seeking help can contact the National Suicide Prevention line on 1-800-273-8255.