# ‘Our worst nightmare’: Parents speak out after Boone County students die by suicide

## ‘Our worst nightmare’: Parents speak out after Boone County students die by suicide

**LEADING THE WAY. BREAKING THE STIGMA OF SUICIDE AND MENTAL ILLNESS WITH OUR KIDS IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS, BOONE COUNTY HAS BEEN HIT VERY HARD WITH STUDENTS DYING BY SUICIDE. FIVE KIDS HAVE DIED, A FEW MORE HAVE ATTEMPTED SUICIDE. AND SO TONIGHT, THE MOTHERS OF THREE OF THOSE TEENAGERS SIT DOWN WITH ME IN HOPES OF SAVING SOMEONE ELSE. IT’S A PAIN MOST OF US CAN’T IMAGINE AND NEVER WANT TO. HALF OF OUR HEARTS DIED THAT DAY, TOO. WE HAVE LIVED OUR WORST NIGHTMARE. ALL THREE OF THESE MOMS HAVE A DIFFERENT STORY, BUT IT ENDS THE SAME WAY. WE ALL HAVE TO GO HOME WITH OUR CHILD. THEY’RE AMBER MURPHY, REBECCA MALAN, AND JAMIE SEITZ ALL LOST A CHILD TO SUICIDE JUST A FEW WEEKS APART. I COULD HAVE HAD, LIKE, ONE MORE GOODBYE OR ONE MORE. I LOVE YOU, MOM. JAMIE’S DAUGHTER, AUDREY JUST TURNED 13. HER GRADES WERE GOOD. SHE LOVED MUSIC AND HANGING OUT WITH HER MOM. GO BLOW YOUR NOSE. YOU SOUND SO STUCK. WOW. SHE WAS. I FELT LIKE THE BETTER VERSION OF MYSELF. JAMIE KNEW AUDREY DIDN’T HAVE A LOT OF FRIENDS AT SCHOOL. I DON’T THINK SHE EVER FOUND SOMEBODY LIKE HER. SO HER FRIENDSHIPS AT SCHOOL DIDN’T LAST VERY LONG. HER 13TH BIRTHDAY WAS ANOTHER SOCIAL DISAPPOINTMENT. THERE WERE NO KIDS THAT CAME, BUT I WAS LIKE, IT’S OKAY. JAMIE CHALKED IT UP TO TYPICAL TEENAGERS AND THE STRUGGLES OF JUNIOR HIGH. BUT EVERYTHING CHANGED ON DECEMBER 2ND. AND HE’S LIKE, CALL 911. I’M LIKE, WHAT? WHAT’S GOING ON? AND I SAID TO SOMEONE, BREAK IN. AND HE SAID, NO. I SAID, IS IT AUDREY? HE SAID, YES. THE HARDEST PART IS NOTHING SEEMED OUT OF THE ORDINARY. NOT EVEN IN THE HOURS BEFORE AUDREY DIED. SHE ATE DINNER. SHE TOOK A SHOWER. SHE LAID OUT HER. HER SCHOOL CLOTHES FOR THE NEXT DAY. 12 DAYS LATER, BRAYDEN MARION DID THE SAME THING. A DECISION THAT COULDN’T BE UNDONE. LITERALLY, WE HAD NO SIGNS HE WAS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME BRAYDEN KID. BRAYDEN WAS JUST 17 IN HIS SENIOR YEAR, PLAYING THE SPORT HE LOVED. OFF THE FIELD, HE WAS KNOWN AS BAYLEN. ALWAYS WEARING HIS WHITE COOPER BALL CAP AND DESIGNER GYM SHOES. HE WAS SOMEBODY THAT ALWAYS LISTENED TO OTHER KIDS. HE Gave the best hugs and he was a big jokester. REBECCA REMEMBERS THE LAST TIME SHE SAW HIM ALIVE. THEY HAD PLANS TO MAKE CHOCOLATE COVERED OREOS FOR HIS GRADE SCHOOL TEACHERS, AND HE SAID, OKAY, MOM, I’M SO EXCITED TO SEE LISA. I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE HER. AND I SAID, OKAY. I CAME HOME, WENT TO GO WAKE HIM UP, WENT TO GO GET HIM READY FOR DINNER AND. HE WAS GONE. HE LEFT US A NOTE THAT SAID THAT HE LOVED US. IT WASN’T OUR FAULT. WE WERE GREAT PARENTS. HE KNEW THAT HE COULD TALK TO US, BUT HE DIDN’T WANT TO BURDEN US. THREE WEEKS LATER, ON NEW YEAR’S EVE, ANOTHER FAMILY SHATTERED. IT SOUNDED LIKE A PIECE OF FURNITURE HAD FALLEN IN THE BASEMENT. AND I LOOKED AT MY HUSBAND. I’M LIKE, WHAT WAS THAT? WE RAN DOWNSTAIRS AND THE BATHROOM DOOR WAS LOCKED. CAMERON MURPHY WAS A SOPHOMORE, JUST LEARNING TO DRIVE. ALL RIGHT, YOU’RE GOOD. FIRST DRIVING EXPERIENCE. HE LOVED GAMING. WOOD BEAT ALL OF HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY. NEVER WANTED TO PUT A BOOK DOWN AND WAS KIND. CAMERON WAS PROBABLY IN A MOTHER’S EYES. THE BIGGEST HEART POSSIBLE. HE WAS ALWAYS WILLING TO HELP. HE ALWAYS JUST WENT WITH THE FLOW. THERE ARE STILL SO MANY QUESTIONS. WHY WERE THERE WARNING SIGNS? WAS THERE SOMETHING THEY SHOULD HAVE SEEN? SADLY, ALL THREE OF THESE KIDS WERE SUFFERING IN SILENCE. THIS IS NOT OKAY. AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO. BUT I DO KNOW, LIKE, SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE. SO THEIR MESSAGE NOW, THE ONLY REASON THEY’RE RELIVING THIS NIGHTMARE WITH YOU IS TO BREAK THE STIGMA OF SUICIDE AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. IF THIS CAN SAVE ONE CHILD OR ONE FAMILY TO NOT FEEL THE DEVASTATION THAT WE HAVE TO WALK THROUGH, THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT. THREE MOTHERS, ALL COPING IN DIFFERENT WAYS. FOR REBECCA, IT’S THIS SIGN FROM ABOVE THAT BRINGS HER PEACE. AN IMAGE CAUGHT ON HER DOORBELL CAMERA THAT SHE BELIEVES SHOWS THE MOMENT HER SON WENT TO HEAVEN. SO THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING FOR THESE MOMS BECAUSE OF THEM SPEAKING UP, BOONE COUNTY HAS NOW EXPANDED A TASK FORCE TO HELP STUDENTS. BUT THESE MOMS REALLY WANT A SEAT AT THE TABLE. THEY WANT TO HELP DEVELOP PROGRAMS SO THAT KIDS AND PARENTS ARE BETTER INFORMED AND AREN’T AFRAID TO TALK ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH. TOMORROW AT 6:00, THE HELP THEY WANT FROM LAWMAKERS WHEN IT COMES TO WHAT OUR KIDS ARE EXPOSED TO ONLINE AND AND THE THING THEY ALWAYS HAVE WITH THEM. THESE RIGHT HERE, THEIR CELL PHONES AS ALWAYS REMEMBER THERE IS HELP. IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU LOVE IS STRUGGLING WITH MENTAL HEALTH. JUST DIAL 988 TO REACH THE SUICIDE AND CRISIS LIFELINE. IF YOU NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO. RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE 24 HOURS A DAY, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK. THE SCARY PART FOR ME IS THAT THE BLUEPRINT ISN’T ALWAYS THE SAME AS YOU ILLUSTRATED THERE. AND THEN THOSE LAST FEW HOURS LAYING OUT THE CLOTHES FOR THE NEXT DAY, AND THE NOTES TO PARENTS JUST CHILLING. THREE OF THEM. I THINK THAT’S WHAT ROCKED ME SO MUCH. ALL THREE OF THESE KIDS REALLY DIDN’T GIVE WARNING SIGNS THAT WILL BE



**BOONE COUNTY, Ky. —** In the last two months, Boone County has been devastated by students dying by suicide. Five kids have died, and two others have attempted suicide.

In the wake of those tragedies, the mothers of three of the teenagers sat down with WLWT’s Sheree Paolello in hopes of saving someone else.

All three mothers have a different story, but it ends the same way, with a pain that most of us can’t imagine and never want to.

“We have lived our worst nightmare,” Amber Murphy said.

Murphy, Rebecca Malin and Jamiee Seitz all lost a child from suicide just a few weeks apart.

Seitz’s daughter Audree just turned 13. Her grades were good, and she loved music and hanging out with her mom.

Seitz knew Audree didn’t have a lot of friends at school.

“I don't think she ever found somebody like her, so her friendships at school didn't last very long,” Seitz said.

Audree’s 13th birthday party was another social disappointment.

“There were no kids that came, but I was like, 'It's OK,'” Seitz said.

Seitz chalked it up to typical teenagers and the struggles of junior high school. But everything changed on Dec. 2.

“And he's like, 'Call 911,'” Seitz said. “I’m like, 'What's going on?' I said, 'Did someone break in?' He said, 'No.' I said, 'Is it Audree?' He said, 'Yes.'"

The hardest part is that nothing seemed out of the ordinary, not even in the hours before Audree died.

“She ate dinner, she took a shower, she laid out her school clothes for the next day,” Seitz said.

Twelve days later, Braden Malin made the same choice that couldn’t be undone. He was just 17 and playing the sport he loved in his senior year.

“Literally, we had no signs,” Malin said. “He was pretty much the same Braden.”

Off the field, he was known as "B-Malin," always wearing his white Cooper baseball hat and designer gym shoes.

“He was somebody that always listened to other kids, he gave the best hugs, and he was a big jokester,” Malin said.

Malin said she remembers the last time she saw him alive. They had plans to make chocolate-covered Oreos for his grade school teachers.

“I came home, went to get him up and ready for dinner, and he was gone,” Malin said. “He left us a note that said that he loved us, it wasn't our fault, we were great parents. He knew that he could talk to us, but he didn't want to burden us.”

Three weeks later, on New Year’s Eve, another family was shattered.

Cameron Murphy was a sophomore who was just learning how to drive. He loved gaming, would beat all his friends in the games and family and never wanted to put a book down.

“Cameron was probably, in a mother’s eyes, the biggest heart possible. He was always willing to help, always just went with the flow,” Murphy said.

There are still so many questions, including why, if there were warning signs and was there something that somebody could have seen?

All three of these mothers are now suffering in silence.

“This is not OK. My daughter's gone, and I don't know what to do, but I do know something has to be done,” Seitz said.

Their message now is that the only reason they’re reliving their nightmare is to break the stigma of suicide and do something about it.

“If this can save just one child or one family to not feel the devastation that we have to walk through, that’s what it is all about,” Murphy said.

The three mothers are all coping in different ways.

For Malin, it’s a sign from above that brings her peace. She believes an image caught on her doorbell camera shows the moment her son went to heaven.

Because of these mothers speaking up, Boone County has expanded a task force to help students.

But these mothers want a seat at the table, and they want to help develop programs so that kids and parents are better informed and aren’t afraid to talk about mental health.

They also want help from lawmakers when it comes to what kids are exposed to online and on their phones.

_If you or someone you know needs help, you can talk with the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or sending a text message to 988, or you can chat online here._
```