https://twitter.com/ScallywagNYC/status/824489880789065728
Miami native Nakia Venant made nationwide headlines on Tuesday after recording her suicide on Facebook Live.
Gina Alexis, the biological mother of the 14-year-old foster kid, is now speaking out, saying she gave Nakia up to be cared for by the state – and it caused her suicide. Alexis spoke at a press conference wherein she said the system had failed her, telling reporters, “I asked the foster care people to take care of my baby and instead she killed herself on Facebook.”
As for why Nakia was sent to a foster home in the first place, the Daily Mail reports that her mother was allegedly beating her. The troubled teen was sexually assaulted by another foster child when she was seven and has bounced between 10 homes and her biological mother’s care since. Nakia reportedly even reached out to a friend on Facebook before the beginning of her live broadcast at midnight on Sunday, writing, “I’m just tired my life pointless I don’t wanna do this anymore.” The friend then contacted her birth mother, Alexis, who tried to get in touch with the foster home, but it was too late.
Nakia was found hanging from a scarf in her shower while her foster parents were asleep. The Florida Department of Children and Families has launched an investigation into her death but says it cannot, by law, address specific questions.
