Adriana Kuch: Video, Death of New Jersey Teen Spark Outrage

Adriana Kuch was a 14-year-old New Jersey teenager who died by suicide just days after a video showing her being attacked in the hallway of her high school was posted to social media, her family says.

According to NBC New York, the video “showed several students viciously attacking Kuch as she was walking with her boyfriend” in a hallway at Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township on February 1, 2023.

She took her own life at her home just two days later, on February 3, according to NBC New York. Her father has spoken out on social media in multiple posts.

According to NJ.com, which reviewed the video, it shows Adriana “walking down a school hallway when a female student approaches her and begins repeatedly hitting her in the face with a water bottle. Adriana crumples on the floor as the girl continues pulling her hair and punching her head. At least two students off-camera can be heard cheering on the assault.”

The graphic video has been posted on Facebook. The video does show people trying to help Kuch. NJ.com notes: “After about 30 seconds of melee, two school employees rush over to interrupt the assault, which left Adriana bruised and bloodied on the floor.”

According to News 12, “three of the four girls seen in the video were charged with third-degree felony assault – a fourth was charged with disorderly conduct.” However, the school’s failure to immediately contact the police is causing controversy, News 12 reported.

The school district superintendent has now resigned after comments he made about the personal lives of Adriana and her father, according to Fox News.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Adriana Kuch’s Attackers Smashed Her Face With a Bottle, but the School Did Not File a Police Report, Her Father Wrote

Michael Kuch, Adriana’s father posted screenshots from the video on his Facebook page.

“I feel like I have to do everyone’s job,” he wrote. “These platforms do not allow the videos to be publicly posted (which I feel is correct). These 4 girls planned and executed an attack. If you watch the videos I have, they are laughing while talking about what they are going to do at the start of the video. I have tagged each photo with a description proving that the offenders made 3 videos. I only have 2. I do not have the video made” one person.

According to Kuch, his daughter “was smashed in the face with a bottle,” but the school “did not even file a police report.” He wrote:

I received the first Video the day this happened because my daughter was tagged in it and she brought it to me (they used this video to make fun of her online) believe me I called everyone and no action was taken by anyone. The second video was given to me by someone who reached out to me online. initially, I was told (one of the girls) was trying to break up the fight. also, I was never told that she was smashed in the face with a bottle 3x. also, I was never told my daughter blacked out, and all they did was take her to the school nurse. the school did not even file a police report. they told me that was not their policy. so I had to take my daughter covered in blood to the local police station.

According to Kuch, “If the school contacted the police and filed a report and conducted an investigation, these videos could have been discovered immediately if these idiots would not have been dumb enough to post this trash online, (one of the girls) would have received a 10 day suspension, and the other 3 would have gotten away with no consequences.”

He added:

I will not sleep until their family has to watch them stand in front of a judge and plead guilty. Some people may think I am making a Dick move. all I am doing is cataloging a video that they posted online. not me. Do not go out looking for attention then cry when you get way to much.
my wife and I are receiving private phone calls to our phones and people are hanging up. Just so you know, I daydream that someone is dumb enough to come to my home and start sh**.

Kuch’s father wrote in another post on Facebook,

I am sharing what one of the kids who attacked my daughter publicly posted. this is the monster that filmed the first Video I recieved. take a moment and picture someone saying this about your daughter after they jump and humiliate her. —this girl also sent a private message to my daughter on her phone stating she did not beat her a** because she just got off of homebound—- so she recorded instead. you know what is screwed up. most of these girls were on my daughter friends list for one of the social media apps

That post included a screenshot that read, in part, “Y’all she reported the vid of her getting her a** beat…”

He also wrote: “my daughter was being attacked at Central Regional High School on February 1st 2023 and this teacher standing in the door watching literally shuts herself in the class seconds later and leaves my daughter … the school told me these classes were likely empty, which is why it took them so long to help her.”

According to her obituary, Adriana O. Kuch, 14, of Bayville, “has sadly passed away on February 3, 2023. Born in Toledo Ohio and lived several places because her father was an Army Airborne soldier serving his country.”

The obituary continues: “They moved to Bayville seven years ago. Adriana was a freshman at Central Regional High School. She adored all animals, she helped children with special needs, she loved jogging with her brothers and was a true nature lover. Adriana also enjoyed her walks in the woods, skateboarding, riding dune buggies and dirt bikes.”

The obituary notes, “Adriana’s mother Brandy had predeceased her. She is survived by her loving parents, Michael Sr. and Sarah Kuch; also, by her cherished siblings, Ashley Kuch, Brittany Kuch, Brandon Tucker, Michael Kuch Jr. and his wife Jennifer Ferro, Jacob Kuch, Ethan Kuch, Marissa Lynch and Haiden Lynch.”

2. Friends & Family Members Have Posted Tributes to Adriana Kuch on TikTok & Other Social Media Accounts

@justice4age Who could have knew there was a broken girl behind that beautiful smile, all because of those stupid bullies. We need justice for age. #justice #fyp #justice4age #awareness #bullyingawareness #stopbullying #suicideprevention #age #preventsuidcide #fypシ #rip ♬ Dancing in the Sky – Beverly Ann

A friend posted a TikTok video tribute to Adriana. “Who could have knew there was a broken girl behind that beautiful smile, all because of those stupid bullies. We need justice,” the caption read.

A man wrote on a Facebook page for the school, “Once again Central Regional High School proves they don’t care about their students. A 14 year old child has taken her life and the school acts like nothing has happened.”

The man continued, “I can’t describe how proud I am of the current students for not backing down, and continuing to support each other in these times. Your alumni support you too, don’t stop fighting.”

Adriana’s father wrote that “a lot of people have beautiful messages about Adriana.”

Jennifer Ferro, Adriana’s sister-in-law, wrote on Facebook, “Since the town loves to gossip, as many already know my 14 year old sister-in-law had sadly taken her own life. Please read her story, throughout this message I’ll be calling her my sister because that’s who I saw her as, my little sister.”

She wrote:

Adriana was known as Age to her friends, but to us her family (The Kuch Family) we knew her as Sissy. She was such an amazing person and although I did not know her in all her years of life I got to know her since she was 11. And geez was she a one of a kind kid. Our family and her parents would describe her as a beautiful girl who was happy, funny, stubborn, strong, loved animals, could make friends so easily, would draw all the time, she loved going on runs with her older brother and our dogs when she came to visit us during the summer, and she always wanted to try out new hobbies… but would get tired of them fast🥹.

She talked about how she wanted to be a tattoo artist when she turns 18 and although I didn’t take it seriously in the past. I really wish I could’ve seen what that future was like, to know that she still had a future. Sissy was our family’s spitfire and although she had her moments (the good, bad, and ugly) we loved her more than life itself and are heartbroken knowing that she’s gone.

3. The School Superintendent Wrote Parents That a Rally for Kuch Interfered ‘With the Learning Process’ After Students Walked Out

News12 New Jersey reported that students staged a walkout to protest the school’s handling of the tragedy.

“It’s horrible, it’s absolutely disgusting, and I wish people, I wish teenagers were better than this because bullying is just not OK,” said student Maria Laycock to the television station.

A letter to parents from the school superintendent says that “since the tragic passing of our student this past Friday, we fully understand that students and the community are hurting for the loss of such a young lady with a bright future.” The letter is dated February 8, 2023.

“Today at the high school we had a moment of silence around the flagpole and then students held a rally outside of the school,” the letter says. “The administration was told to allow the rally to proceed as long as it was organized and peaceful. Unfortunately, the student activity did begin to interfere with the learning process as the day continued.”

According to the letter, since the rally “produced more than normal traffic in front of the school, we want to thank the Berkeley Township Police Department for their assistance as well as providing additional resources.”

It continued:

Because of the traffic issue, with the intention to make sure our dismissal and bus departures went on schedule, we brought our buses in earlier and started the dismissal process approximately 15 minutes earlier than normal. A subsequent robocall went out to parents, however, unfortunately the timing of the call may not have allowed parents to receive the information early enough to make any necessary pick up arrangements.

To ensure the “health, safety and well-being for all students, there will not be any rallies in the future without prior administrative approval otherwise action will be taken in accordance with policy,” the letter noted. “All students must be in classes and respect rules, procedures, and adhere to the direction of staff members within our school community.”

According to the letter, the viewing for Kuch will be on Friday, February 10, 2023, but it is only for close friends. The family “has indicated that the funeral is private,” the letter says.

“It is time to start the healing process and we send our thoughts and prayers out to the family,” the letter said. It was signed by the school superintendent.

4. Michael Kuch Says His Daughter ‘Loved Everyone’ & ‘Did Not Care About Race’

Kuch’s father wrote on Facebook, “People are sending me garbage like this, I am not here to make it about race. Adriana was beautiful and she loved everyone. she did not care about race, the world would be a better place if everyone was as colorblind as she was.”

He shared this post:

He shared a woman’s message about Adriana helping a boy with autism.

5. The Superintendent Defended Not Calling Police, a Report Says

According to NJ.com, staff at Central Regional High School “brought Adriana to the nurse, but did not report the assault to the Berkeley Township Police Department.”

Central Regional School District Superintendent of Schools Triantafillos Parlapanides told News 12 that this followed school policy.

“I don’t believe a police report was done. We normally just suspend. If a parent wants to press charges they can with the police. But we’re not going to double-whammy a kid where they are suspended and then police charges as well,” Parlapanides told the television station.

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