Woman hit by ‘shamed’ girl who jumped from overpass speaks out
A married mother of two young children said she mainly remembers Izabel Laxamana’s hair after the teen jumped from an overpass onto her car in Tacoma, Wash.
“I saw a long black ponytail as she was falling,” Chelci Frutos told the Washington Post. “Afterwards, I kept picturing her falling over and over and over again in my mind.”
Thirteen-year-old Laxamana died about 24 hours after she jumped from an overpass onto Interstate 5, landing on Frutos’ car at 65 mph. The teen’s death followed a public shaming video made by her dad showing her hair cut short as punishment for “getting messed up.”
Frutos told the Washington Post the ponytail she remembered was just one piece of hair left long by Laxamana’s father.
“As I was driving I wasn’t even watching the cars in front of me. I was just holding the steering wheel as tight as I possibly could because later that day my wrists were hurting,” she said. “As I lost sight of her I knew she was going to hit my car.”
The 15-second video of Laxamana appeared online showing her with short hair and being questioned by her father as she stands next to a pile of her hair.
It’s unclear when the video was made or posted and what role it may have played in Laxamana’s suicide. In August, Laxamana’s online posts hinted at trouble beyond the video.
“I feel hated most of the time im in school i feel looked down on and i get judged alot…. But what keeps me going is people like kian who have gone through the same thing as me…” she wrote. “In a school with so many people its weird to say ‘i feel alone’ but the truth is that you really do feel alone.”
A Facebook page condemning public shaming videos in Laxamana’s name, “Justice for Izabel,” gained 11,000 likes since her story was first reported.
Contact Kristen DeSilva at 702-477-3895 or kdesilva@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @kristendesilva
