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Hamilton County prosecutor doesn't expect to file charges in 8-year-old Gabriel Taye's suicide

Posted at 2:52 PM, Jul 10, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-10 16:13:48-04

CINCINNATI -- Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters doesn't expect to file charges in an 8-year-old boy's suicide.

"The Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office accepts the July 6th conclusion of the Hamilton County Coroner and our investigation is now concluded," spokeswoman Julie Wilson said. "No further action is anticipated."

The coroner, Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco, ended her second investigation into Gabriel Taye's suicide without adding mention of bullying to his death certificate.

RELATED: Taye's mother says she feels 'robbed'

Sammarco announced Thursday that "the review did not reveal any information inconsistent with our original findings" and that the coroner's office "(has) closed the investigation." Her office was unable to exhume Taye's body for a second physical examination. However, she retrieved his tablet, which was buried with him.

Through her attorney, Taye's mother said she was disappointed the second investigation didn't determine why Taye killed himself.

"Before Gabe was buried, neither the Prosecutor nor the Coroner knew Gabe was attacked in the school bathroom two days before he died," attorney Jennifer Branch said in a statement. "Had the video of the attack been uncovered before the autopsy, more evidence may have been available. It is frustrating that the video was not revealed to his family until months after he died.”

Taye hanged himself in his bedroom on Jan. 26. Reports of bullying -- accompanied by a video that shows Taye lying unconscious in the bathroom at Carson Elementary -- surfaced in May.

Mary Ronan, then superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools, said the video shows Taye fainted and doesn't demonstrate any connection to his death. She also denied the allegation Taye was attacked.

On May 11, Sammarco announced that her office would look at the case again. Her office said last week Taye's death certificate would not be amended and remains classified as a suicide.

Branch said Taye's family expects to complete its own investigation before Cincinnati Public Schools start next month.