Nex Benedict's mom raises doubts about police statements: It's a "big cover"

Nex Benedict (Benedict Family)

The mother of Nex Benedict — the non-binary Oklahoma teen who was assaulted in a school bathroom and died the following day — is raising doubts about statements released by the local police. On Wednesday, the Owasso Police posted a statement to the department's Facebook page, which appeared to defend the Owasso High School's response to the February 7 incident. The statement also suggested that Nex's death the following day was unrelated to the bathroom assault. In a text exchange with Popular Information, Sue Benedict, Nex's mother, said she considered the Owasso Police statement a "big cover" and believed it was only released as "something to calm the people." 

Benedict said the Owasso Police did not contact her before releasing the statement, which included "preliminary information from the medical examiner’s office." According to the statement, although the medical examiner has not made a determination about the cause of death, the preliminary information "indicated that the decedent [Nex Benedict] did not die as a result of trauma."

Separately, an attorney representing Nex Benedict's family released a statement that the facts of the case "are troubling at best." The attorney said that not all the facts have been released to the public and that the family would conduct its own investigation, including "independently interviewing witnesses and collecting all available evidence."

There are several aspects of the Owasso Police statement that raise serious questions. The statement paints the school's response, which is part of the investigation, in a favorable light. But large sections of the Owasso Police's February 21 statement were copied verbatim from a statement released by Owasso Public Schools on February 20.

In an interview with Popular Information, Lieutenant Nick Boatman, a spokesperson for the Owasso Police, said that after Owasso Public Schools issued its release, "they got a lot of hate mail." The purpose of the police statement, which Boatman said he wrote, was to communicate that the police "have confirmed the school did all those things." The Owasso Police confirmed the facts, Boatman said, by collecting written statements from school officials, including the school nurse and the school resource officer. Boatman acknowledged that the statement "kind of came across as us being a voice piece for the school." 

Boatman confirmed that he did not contact Nex Benedict's family before releasing the statement that included preliminary information from the medical examiner. Boatman said he "assumed that the medical examiner provide[d] that information to the family." But he acknowledged that that might not have happened because the medical examiner might "wait until the cause of death is actually determined before they do that." The medical examiner will not determine a cause of death until they receive toxicology results from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, a process that could take several weeks.

It is not a normal practice of the Owasso Police to release "piecemeal" information regarding the cause of death before the medical examiner issues a report, Boatman said. But, in this case, Boatman told Popular Information that the Owasso Police "reached out to the medical examiner's office to try to head off some of this national scrutiny." As the case gained more attention, the school reportedly received at least one threat that was deemed credible. 

Boatman said the medical examiner did not explicitly tell him that Nex "did not die from something as a result of that fight." But that's how Boatman interpreted the medical examiner's comments. Boatman also said the medical examiner "emphasized they are waiting for toxicology,"  which Boatman interpreted as "kind of a red flag." Boatman said he is "assuming when I get that [toxicology report] back, something's going to be there." 

Nevertheless, according to a February 9 "Affidavit for Search Warrant" by Detective Penny Hamrick, the Owasso Police suspected "foul play." The affidavit, which Popular Information obtained, says that the Owasso Police were investigating Nex's death as a "murder." Boatman confirmed that, at this point, murder charges are still "on the table."  

Meanwhile, Sue Benedict waits. 

"I believe my child has passed… everything will be brought to light, people will answer, and tell me why my child is not here," Benedict told Popular Information.