Nonbinary student 'did not die as a result of trauma,' Owasso police say

Owasso police say the death of a local high school student was not the result of trauma as they investigate threats made against the school district, one of which the FBI has deemed credible.

Nex Benedict, 16, who identified as nonbinary and used gender-neutral pronouns, died Feb. 8, one day after they were involved in a fight at Owasso High School, police say.

“While the investigation continues into the altercation, preliminary information from the medical examiner’s office is that a complete autopsy was performed and indicated that the decedent did not die as a result of trauma,” police said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

“At this time, any further comments on the cause of death are currently pending until toxicology results and other ancillary testing results are received. The official autopsy report will be available at a later date.”

Benedict has also been referred to as Dagny, a name their family continued to use at the 16-year-old’s funeral and on a GoFundMe campaign page.

In a statement released by its attorneys, the Benedict family called on “all school, local, state and national officials to join forces to determine why this happened, to hold those responsible to account and to ensure it never happens again.”

“Many of the questions posed by friends, family, media and other concerned citizens are also top of mind for those left to honor Nex’s memory,” the family’s statement reads. “While various investigations are still pending, the facts currently known by the family, some of which have been released to the public, are troubling at best. We urge those tasked with investigating and prosecuting all potentially liable parties to do so fully, fairly and expediently.

“Notwithstanding, the family is independently interviewing witnesses and collecting all available evidence.”

The Benedict family also asked that “any threats, or acts, of violence, against students, employees and personnel, or any other persons associated with the Owasso Public Schools, cease immediately.”

Owasso Police Lt. Nick Boatman told the Owasso Reporter on Wednesday that the Owasso Police Department received information from the district the previous morning about a serious threat made against a school administrator.

“The FBI … has identified this threat as credible. It was a specific threat against a specific school official,” Boatman said. “Since then, there have been many more vague threats against the school system, school officials, schools themselves.”

The Owasso Police Department, in partnership with the FBI and the Oklahoma Counter Terrorism Intelligence Center, is investigating around “10 to 20 overall message threats” that had been sent to the school district within the last two days.

Boatman said the circumstances surrounding the threats have led police to believe they are targeted toward the district’s secondary schools, but they have units stationed across the district’s 15 elementary schools, as well.

“It has caused us to increase our police presence at all of our campuses,” Boatman said. “Our Patrol Division is now at as many drive-throughs, drive-bys, walk-throughs, sit-and-patrols, directed patrols, at all of the different schools.”

Owasso Public Schools said in a letter to parents on Wednesday: “We are taking every threat seriously and are working diligently with agencies to determine the credibility of each threat. Each of our schools are continuing with operations as normally as possible. We did not want parents to be alarmed should they see increased security at our buildings. We will continue to provide parents with updated information.”

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