A 14-year-old Miami Gardens girl hung herself on Facebook live inside her foster family's home.
Naika Venant took her life using a scarf in the bathroom. One of her friends watching the Facebook Live called 911, but it was too late.
"I am sick and devastated," Venant's mother, Gina Alexis, said. "Naika was my baby girl."
Alexis lost custody of Venant when she was 7-years-old. She was in the care of a foster family living in a Miami Gardens apartment.
"Social media plays a large role in so many young peoples' lives that it's not as unheard of or unthought of as I wish it was," Tracy Perkins, the Program Director for CARES Suicide Prevention in Southwest Florida, said.
CARES works with families who've lost a loved one to suicide, or with people pondering it.
"In Lee County last year, there were over 100 suicides from age 5-90," Perkins said.
Venant is the second teen in less than a month to livestream her suicide on Facebook.
"I definitely wish Facebook Live wouldn't be used for something like this, and/or the bystander effect of people watching it and seeing it isn't such a popular thing, because it's tragic," Perkins said.
Perkins said no one may ever know why Venant took her life in this way. According to her mom's attorney, Venant has had more than ten foster placements since April.
The Department of Children and Families said it's doing a comprehensive review "to examine this child's history and the circumstances related to serving the child."
"I have trusted Florida foster care people to care for my baby. Instead, she kills herself on Facebook," Alexis said.
Four in Your Corner reached out to Facebook's corporate offices to see if in light of these recent teen's deaths, they're looking into regulating Facebook Live in any way. We'll update this story when we hear back.
For more information on CARES Suicide Prevention and the resources they provide, click here.
