Utah school reaches $2M settlement with family of black 'autistic' girl, 10, who killed herself after being bullied into spraying Febreze on clothes after pupils and a teacher said she smelled

A Utah school has reached a $2million settlement with the family of a 10-year-old who died by suicide two years ago after being horrifically bullied.

Davis School District, which runs Foxboro Elementary School, agreed to hand Izzy Tichenor's relatives the lump sum after it was approved by the Utah Legislature.

The figure was vastly down from the $14million the family had sought in a lawsuit last year, claiming the child was bullied, abused, harassed, and excluded from activities' because she was 'female, learning disabled, poor, homeless and black.'

Her mom Brittany Tichenor-Cox spoke out about the payment at an emotional news conference, saying it sent an 'important message' but that she was still grieving.

'This is a long time coming.' Tichenor-Cox said. 'Today's settlement sends an important message.' 

A Utah school has reached a $2million settlement with the family of a 10-year-old who died by suicide two years ago after being horrifically bullied 

Her mom Brittany Tichenor-Cox spoke out about the payment at an emotional news conference, saying it sent an 'important message' but that she was still grieving

Izzy was a student at Utah's Davis School District, which the Justice Department says has a 'serious and widespread racial harassment' problem. Pictured: Foxboro Elementary School

She said she continues to grieve the loss of her daughter and while any amount of money won't change that, she still emphasized the importance of the settlement.

'I'm still having issues with as far as grieving over her. Just because you win some money doesn't compare to the child not being here,' she added.

Tichenor-Cox said she will be starting a nonprofit, Izzy's Village Foundation, to help other children who are suffering.

The family's lawyer, Tyler Ayres, said while he and the family were hoping for more, this was a good step forward. 

'We hoped for a number that may have sent a bigger message but we think that this has been the right message for right now.'

'We can never forget the injustice suffered by Izzy,' he said.  

'Hopefully the next African American child at Foxboro Elementary School will find comfort in knowing that they are not alone and that this community will celebrate them and fight for them,' he added.

Brittany (left) said she contacted the school and the district several times but constantly felt ignored

Izzy's mom, Brittany, says Izzy once took air freshener to school because her teacher told students they smell bad, which led to other students bullying her on the playground

Isabella 'Izzy' Tichenor, 10, was a victim of 'racist' comments and remarks on her disability before committing suicide in November of last year, her mom says

A statue of Izzy will also be built in the library at Foxboro.

They expressed that they are 'pleased with what the Davis school district is saying,' but that they 'are watching them and we will be watching them for years to come.'

Rae Duckworth, Chairperson of Black Lives Matter Utah, shared a similar message, saying: 'We will stand for Izzy and we will smile for Izzy.'

The district and family released a joint statement regarding to settlement on Tuesday.

In the statement, the district said the loss of Izzy 'will always impact our community and school.'

Moving forward, the statement continued: 'Davis School District is committed to making schools a safe and welcoming environment for all.'

'Any form of racism, bigotry, discrimination, or harassment within our schools is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

The 10-year-old girl killed herself in November 2021 after her mother said she was taunted over her autism and skin color in a school district that the Justice Department says has a 'serious and widespread racial harassment' problem 

'The district encourages anyone who observes a student or staff member being harassed or bullied to report it right away.

'Reports of bullying will be thoroughly documented, addressed promptly, and appropriate consequences will be administered. ' 

'The District is continually assessing and expanding its processes and efforts to better support every student who attends its schools, including implementing trauma- informed counseling and other resources for its students.'

'The District continues to provide necessary training to ensure compliance with all applicable guidelines and recommendations and is dedicated to creating environments to encourage open dialogue and discussions that promote mutual learning, respect and empathy, free from any undue pressure on individual students.

'The District is wholly committed to continuing to implement changes to positively impact students, staff and the community.'

The 10-year-old killed herself in November 2021 after her mother said she was taunted over her autism and skin color in a school district that the Justice Department says has a 'serious and widespread racial harassment' problem.

Before her death, Izzy told her mother that she didn't think her teacher liked her and even took an air freshener to school after being taunted for the way she smelled.

Tichenor-Cox says she contacted the teacher and the school district about Izzy's claims multiple times but that appropriate action was never taken.

A report from April 2022, revealed that the Davis School District in Farmington failed to properly deal with complaints made by Tichenor's mother in the months running-up to her death.

The independent probe commissioned by the superintendent discovered that the distressed youngster - who was awaiting a possible diagnosis of autism - had sprayed her clothes with Febreze after being told by other students and even a teacher that she smelled bad.

The special ed teacher in question said she'd asked if Izzy had taken a shower while remarking on how she smelled.

The report also revealed that staff at Foxboro Elementary School, which Izzy attended, didn't even know the district's formal definition of bullying.

It added that Foxboro fostered an atmosphere 'in which bullying...could go underreported, uninvestigated, and unaddressed,' according to CNN.

Brittany Tichenor-Cox, left, at the vigil in remembrance of her 10-year-old daughter in 2021

Davis School District was hit by a Department of Justice investigation just weeks before Izzy's death, which found that officials had spent years ignoring allegations of racist bullying made by black and Asian students, as well as their families.

The subsequent probe into Izzy's death was unable to determine whether the bullying she'd suffered was racist - although it didn't rule it out.

It explained: 'Issues relating to race, disability, and poverty sometimes intersect and when they do, can further complicate already challenging situations.

'It can be very difficult to extricate one from the others.'

'When a student told Izzy she needed to wash her hair, this comment could have been borne out of racial animus, could have been an innocuous observation, or could have been a cloaked insult about poverty.'

The investigation did conclude, however, that the school did not do enough to protect the child and address the bullying allegations made by her mother in a timely manner.

The DOJ report, published in October 2020, found that black students were disciplined more harshly than white students and were 'routinely' called the n-word. White students also called Asian students 'yellow' and 'squinty' and told them to 'go back to China,' the report states.

Izzy's older sister had complained of racist bullying at the hands of students before her sibling's death, including one incident where she'd been called the n-word.

The agency's discovery came in a report and settlement agreement published in October - a month before Izzy committed suicide. The investigation on the school district started in July 2019.

DailyMail.com has contacted Tyler Ayres - the Tichenor's family lawyer - and the Davis School District for comment.

Ayres has previously said that Izzy's family had reported the bullying to teachers and school officials, but felt ignored.

In response, the Davis School District said in a statement that it would review the report's findings and offered a formal apology to Izzy's family.

Brittany Tichenor-Cox (right) says her Izzy's teachers and fellow peers picked on her daughter on a daily basis 

'We are taking it seriously. We vow to continue our ongoing and extensive efforts to foster a welcoming environment for all students in the Davis School District,' the statement said.

Brittany Tichenor-Cox consistently said in the past that Izzy expressed reservations about her time at Foxboro Elementary School in North Salt Lake since the start of the school year.

She told her mom that she didn't think her teacher liked her.

'She doesn't say 'hi' to me. She says 'hi' to all the other kids,' Tichenor-Cox recalled Izzy saying.

Less than two months before Izzy's death, the DOJ released a report after reviewing more than 200 allegations of racial harassment and other discriminations and conducting five visits to the district, during which they spoke to staff and students.

The report said: 'Black students reported strikingly similar experiences throughout the District: white and other non-Black students routinely called Black students the n-word and other racial epithets, called them monkeys or apes and said that their skin was dirty or looked like feces.

'Peers taunted Black students by making monkey noises at them, touching and pulling their hair without permission, repeatedly referencing slavery and lynching, and telling Black students 'go pick cotton' and 'you are my slave.'

'Harassment related to slavery increased when schools taught the subject, which some Black students felt was not taught in a respectful or considerate manner.

'White and other non-Black students demanded that Black students give them an 'N-Word Pass,' which non-Black students claimed gave them permission to use the n-word with impunity, including to and around Black students.'

Darlene McDonald, a local activist whose two black sons attended school in the district, said her older son 'faced being the butt of Black jokes,' according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Tomoya Averett, 22, said she was the victim of 'relentless' harassment.

She says she was called the n-word and told by white students that 'God hates Black people; that's why their skin is dark' when she was 16.