A teenage girl who was a victim of bullying died in her father's arms after disobeying her parents to go to a party before shooting herself when the police tried to escort her back home. Jaylee Chillson, 14, left her home to attend a gathering in an Aurora, Kansas field, defying her family's instructions not to attend.
Chillson reached the outdoor party in the rural city of Aurora around 11:30 pm on Saturday after the Cloud County Sheriff's Office received a call that she had run away from home, KAKE-TV News reported. The deputy located Chillson and was trying to persuade her to go back home when she pulled out a gun.
Tragic End
The ex-EMT recalled hearing a gunshot following the deputy from the Cloud County Sheriff's Office tracking down Jaylee. "He was escorting her to his patrol vehicle when she pulled out a firearm and shot herself," the sheriff's office said in a press release.
"The deputy did not draw his firearm. The sheriff's deputy and an off-duty firefighter attempted life-saving measures but the girl was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after midnight," the statement added.
Chillson's father expressed the unbearable pain of the tragedy in a heartfelt Facebook post.
"She is amazing. Perfect," Jeb Chillson wrote. "Everything you could ever ask for in a daughter. She's beautiful. She's smart. She is our everything. Our hearts our shattering. It's unbearable. It's not fair."
The mourning father also expressed his anger, suggesting that his daughter had been bullied and shunned.
"I've read days worth of messages from her 'friends' that treated her absolutely awful," he wrote. "Watched as she was not included with girls on her sports teams. Watched adults on a school level repeatedly fail her. Watched as girls that were once her best friends not even acknowledge her when she would walk by them, and watch a handful of parents who used to gush about her and how amazing she was turn to calling her names and talking badly about her to their kids.
"No one outside of our family and her therapist know what the last year of her life has been like," he added. "She deserved everything she ever could have wanted in this world."
Victim of Bullying
Police said that several witnesses at the party, which comprised high school and college students, were questioned regarding the incident. However, no charges were brought against anyone.
The sheriff's office sought assistance from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation for the investigation to maintain impartiality due to their deputy's involvement during the shooting.
Chillson, born on March 11, 2009, in Manhattan, Kansas, was raised in Clay Center by her parents, Jeb and Stacie Chillson, along with her four brothers, as mentioned in her obituary.
"She enjoyed spending time outside in nature hunting, fishing and camping," the obit said. "Softball was another favorite activity for Jaylee, spending many hours on the field practicing and playing."
The teenager took pleasure in accompanying her father in his semi-truck and aspired to pursue a career as a diesel mechanic. Also, she actively participated in the youth group at the Evangelical Covenant Church, as mentioned in her obituary.
