{"id":35801,"date":"2024-02-20T13:45:17","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T18:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=35801"},"modified":"2024-02-20T14:05:11","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T19:05:11","slug":"teen-students-death-under-investigation-in-oklahoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/02\/20\/teen-students-death-under-investigation-in-oklahoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Teen student&#8217;s death under investigation in Oklahoma"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fb-video\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kjrhtv\/videos\/1153820222275749\/\" data-width=\"auto\" data-show-text=\"false\"><blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kjrhtv\/videos\/1153820222275749\/\" class=\"fb-xfbml-parse-ignore\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kjrhtv\/videos\/1153820222275749\/\">16-year-old Owasso student laid to rest after unexpected death<\/a><p>With few answers after an Owasso student&#039;s unexpected death last week, friends and family are remembering Dagny Benedict, who was lost too soon. \r\n\r\nMore &gt;&gt;&gt; https:\/\/bit.ly\/48p77rU<\/p>Posted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kjrhtv\">KJRH<\/a> on Friday, February 16, 2024<\/blockquote><\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">KJRH: <a href=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kjrhtv\/videos\/1153820222275749>16-year-old Owasso student laid to rest after unexpected death<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Teen student&#8217;s death under investigation in Oklahoma<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Tuesday, February 20, 2024<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source\">Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nAuthorities in Oklahoma are investigating the death of a 16-year-old student who passed away under unexpected circumstances.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nAccording to an obituary, <a href=https:\/\/www.moweryfs.com\/obituaries\/Dagny-Benedict>Dagny Ellis Benedict<\/a> passed away on February 8. The family said Dagny had been a student at Owasso High School in Owasso, in the northeast part of the state.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;Dagny enjoyed a variety of past times such as watching the Walking Dead, drawing, reading, and playing Ark and Minecraft,&#8221; the obituary stated.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\"gfm-embed\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/dagny-benedict\/widget\/large\"><\/div>\r\n            <script defer src=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/static\/js\/embed.js\"><\/script>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nAccording to <a href=https:\/\/www.kjrh.com\/news\/local-news\/police-investigating-16-year-old-owasso-students-death>news reports<\/a> from  Oklahoma, Dagny was involved in an <a href=https:\/\/tulsaworld.com\/news\/community\/owasso\/owasso-high-school-student-laid-to-rest-after-unexpected-death\/article_bff2d70e-cceb-11ee-b562-d34aba910742.html>incident at school<\/a> prior to their passing. The school district said the death is under investigation by local law enforcement.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;The Owasso Police Department has notified district leaders of the death of an Owasso High School student,&#8221; <a href=https:\/\/www.owassops.org>Owasso Public Schools<\/a> said in a statement to the media. &#8220;The student&#8217;s name and cause of death have not yet been made public.&#8221;\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;As this is an active police investigation, we will have no additional comment at this time,&#8221; the statement continued. &#8220;Further inquiries should be directed to the Owasso Police Department.&#8221;\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe Owasso police also <a href=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02BEyW2agsSe5dR6ufGscM4gahi5qm37Bqrc16HPQjKFTsvmECmLaguVvRUTdyq2sDl&#038;id=100064599824990>issued a statement<\/a>. On Tuesday afternoon, the law enforcement agency said it responded to a local hospital following a report of a student who had been in a &#8220;physical altercation&#8221; at school.\r\n<P><\/P> <div class=\"mt-1 mb-1\"><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8411603009680747\" data-ad-slot=\"6394965691\"><\/ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/div><P><\/p>\r\n&#8220;On February 7th, 2024, at approximately 3:30 p.m., the Owasso Police Department was summoned to a local hospital in reference to a report of a student who had been involved in a physical altercation at the Owasso High School prior to the end of school that day,&#8221; the agency said. &#8220;No report of the incident was made to the Owasso Police Department prior to the notification at the hospital. Information was taken by a School Resource Officer who responded to the hospital.&#8221;\r\n<P><\/p>\r\n&#8220;On February 8th, 2024, the Owasso Police Department was made aware that the juvenile was rushed back to a hospital where the student was pronounced dead,&#8221; the law enforcement statement continued. &#8220;It is not known at this time if the death is related to the incident at the school or not. A thorough investigation is being conducted by Owasso Police Detectives who are currently awaiting an autopsy report and toxicology results.&#8221;\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe <a href=https:\/\/www.cherokee.org\/>Cherokee Nation<\/a> is   looking into the incident too, amid <a href=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/RecapsfromCherokeeNation\/posts\/7550804254970059>social media posts<\/a> which identified Dagny as a tribal citizen.  However, the tribe has not yet found any information to confirm what is being <a href=https:\/\/www.freedomoklahoma.org\/news\/nex-benedict>shared online<\/a>, a spokesperson told Indianz.Com on Tuesday afternoon.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe tribe has searched by the student&#8217;s date of birth, which has been disclosed in the obituary,  and  by the names of the student and their parents, the spokesperson said.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/02\/20\/teen-students-death-under-investigation-in-oklahoma\/robinmclainsmith\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-35818\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2330\" height=\"2472\" data-attachment-id=\"35818\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/02\/20\/teen-students-death-under-investigation-in-oklahoma\/robinmclainsmith\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20\/robinmclainsmith.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2330,2472\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-title=\"Robin McLain Smith\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Robin McLain Smith&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;A screenshot of a February 19, 2024, social media post by Robin McLain Smith, administrator for an unofficial page about meetings of the Cherokee Nation Council.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20\/robinmclainsmith-965x1024.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20\/robinmclainsmith.jpg\" alt=\"Robin McLain Smith\"   class=\"size-full wp-image-35818\" \/><\/a> <figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">A screenshot of a February 19, 2024, social media post by Robin McLain Smith, administrator for an unofficial page about meetings of the Cherokee Nation Council.<\/figcaption>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nIndianz.Com contacted Freedom Oklahoma, which advocates for 2S (Two Spirit) and LGBTQ+ rights, as well as  the Cherokee Nation citizen who posted about the student, on Tuesday afternoon to determine more about the information being shared online. Neither the <a href=https:\/\/www.moweryfs.com\/obituaries\/Dagny-Benedict>obituary<\/a>, nor a <a href=https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/dagny-benedict>GoFundMe set up for the family<\/a>, have mentioned tribal affiliation.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nOwasso falls within the <a href=https:\/\/www.cherokee.org\/about-the-nation\/frequently-asked-questions\/common-questions\/>reservation of the Cherokee Nation<\/a>. The city, located near Tulsa, is  part of the tribe&#8217;s <a href=https:\/\/www.cherokee.org\/about-the-nation\/maps\/>14-county area<\/a>. Historically, Owasso was in the <a href=https:\/\/claremoremoh.org\/history-of-cooweescoowee-district-part-i-and-ii\/>Cooweescoowee District<\/a> of the Cherokee Nation.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nNews reports and social media posts have described Dagny&#8217;s <a href=https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Non-binary_gender>gender identity as non-binary<\/a>. KJRH     said they <a href=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/watch\/?v=1153820222275749>went by the name Nez<\/a>, citing a friend and fellow student. Online posts have said Dagny went by the name Nex.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/02\/20\/teen-students-death-under-investigation-in-oklahoma\/olympus-digital-camera-10\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-35828\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" data-attachment-id=\"35828\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/02\/20\/teen-students-death-under-investigation-in-oklahoma\/olympus-digital-camera-10\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20\/OwassoOklahoma.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1920\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-title=\"Owasso, Oklahoma\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Owasso, Oklahoma&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;A view of Owasso, Oklahoma. Photo: &lt;a href=https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/pixelpackr\/5331155405\/&gt;Janice Waltzer&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20\/OwassoOklahoma-1024x768.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20\/OwassoOklahoma.jpg\" alt=\"Owasso, Oklahoma\"   class=\"size-full wp-image-35828\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\"> A view of Owasso, Oklahoma. Photo: <a href=https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/pixelpackr\/5331155405\/>Janice Waltzer<\/a><\/figcaption>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Authorities in Oklahoma are investigating the death of a 16-year-old student who passed away under unexpected circumstances.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[18,13,1],"tags":[77,101,1016,511,104,127,105,102],"class_list":["post-35801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-law","category-national","tag-cherokee","tag-crime","tag-gender","tag-law-enforcement","tag-lgbtq","tag-oklahoma","tag-two-spirit","tag-youth","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20\/OwassoOklahoma.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-9jr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35801"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35829,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35801\/revisions\/35829"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}