Bay Area

School District Sued by Family of 11-Year-Old Girl Who Died by Suicide After Alleged Bullying

In a time when many pre-teen antics are uploaded to TikTok and Instagram, a video out of Vallejo shared on social media last year holds something disturbing. In it, a sixth-grade girl stands in a school yard with her back to the camera, her long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail and her bright pink backpack on her shoulders. Suddenly, an arm shoots out, reaches for the girl’s hair and yanks her down very hard, sending the child sprawling to the ground. The 11-year-old girl in the pink backpack was Maria “Therese” Caguin and she took her own life on Jan. 2 because she was repeatedly bullied at her school, her parents said. Now they are suing the school district for allegedly allowing their daughter to be subjected to physical, cyber and verbal bullying.

Published

2 years ago

March 14, 2023

Oakland Post

Therese's death shocked and horrified not only her parents, but the greater community. Parents are calling for something to be done about bullying at Hogan Middle School in Vallejo.

By Katy St. Clair
Bay City News

In a time when many pre-teen antics are uploaded to TikTok and Instagram, a video out of Vallejo shared on social media last year holds something disturbing.

In it, a sixth-grade girl stands in a school yard with her back to the camera, her long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail and her bright pink backpack on her shoulders. Suddenly, an arm shoots out, reaches for the girl’s hair and yanks her down very hard, sending the child sprawling to the ground.

The 11-year-old girl in the pink backpack was Maria “Therese” Caguin and she took her own life on Jan. 2 because she was repeatedly bullied at her school, her parents said. Now they are suing the school district for allegedly allowing their daughter to be subjected to physical, cyber and verbal bullying.

Therese’s death shocked and horrified not only her parents, but the greater community. Parents are calling for something to be done about bullying at Hogan Middle School in Vallejo.

Therese’s sister set up a GoFundMe the day after her death to raise funds for her funeral.

“Yesterday my little sister Therese took her own life. My dad found her in her room. She was only 11 years old,” reads the post. “This has been the most unexpected and saddest thing we’ve had to endure as a family.”

The principal of Hogan Middle School, Rosalind Hines, referred all questions about Therese’s alleged bullying and death to the Vallejo City Unified School District, which did not comment on the girl’s death. Hines did send out a message to parents on Jan. 6 in the wake of Therese’s death.

“With a heavy heart, I share the news of the passing of one of our own,” she wrote. “This sudden loss will surely raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our entire school, especially our students.”

Hines went on to say that mental health support staff would be made available.

The reaction on Facebook was a mixture of sadness and anger, with one poster saying, “Maybe they should have stated that this poor child committed suicide due to bullying at that school. Why sugar coat it? Those bullies should suffer consequences.”

Therese’s mother Vionalyn Caguin, a single mom who also has a 3-year-old son, said she has been “completely broken” by her daughter’s death, saying she had no idea how much she had been going through.

“She just kept it to herself,” said Caguin, who said she knew her daughter wasn’t thriving at school but she didn’t know the extent of her trauma.

Caguin said she felt her daughter was trying to protect her from concern because she knew life wasn’t easy for her single mother.

“She didn’t want me to worry, but I was always saying, ‘Mama’s here.’ I made sure I was always there for her,” she said.

Caguin repeatedly asked her daughter how she was doing at her new school. Therese began at Hogan in August and was having difficulty making friends. She was obedient, quiet and sweet, her mother said.

Still, after a few months at Hogan, her mom knew something was wrong and began trying to find a different school for her daughter, she said, though other schools had waiting lists.

Caguin said that she didn’t fully understand the scope of the bullying until after her daughter’s death and she saw the video of her being assaulted in the school yard.

“When I saw that video, I said, oh my God, it’s breaking my heart, because I didn’t know that it’s that bad,” she said through tears during a visit to her daughter’s grave in a Vallejo cemetery.

Caguin said the school had told her last fall that there was an “incident” involving her daughter and that the kids would “face consequences,” but that the school never told her the extent of what happened, and neither did her daughter.

According to the claim filed Thursday, the school allegedly assured Therese’s parents that they would “take reasonable and appropriate measures to stop the bullying endured by” their daughter.

“Hogan Middle School did nothing to intervene and stop the harassment and bullying and did not follow the policies and procedures to make sure that Decedent and other students on campus were not continually harassed and bullied,” reads the claim.

Though Therese didn’t confide in her mother, she did reach out to a teacher. On or about October or November, she emailed a teacher to say that she “wanted to die,” the family’s claim alleges.

The suit alleges that the school then “did nothing to intervene.”

“In cases such as this, it requires the maximum amount of attention to bring about change,” said attorney for the family Bryan Harrison. “You have a situation in which the parents have entrusted the faculty and administration with trust to care for and protect, what is most meaningful to us as parents — our children.”

He said, “For the staff and faculty to ignore repeated instances of bullying, and in this particular case, ignore actual notice from a child directly that the child was thinking about hurting herself as a result of bullying, it’s not just negligent, it’s grossly negligent.”

A spokesperson for the school district provided their approach to the problem of bullying.

“We have multiple ways to respond to bullying at Hogan Middle School and across the district,” said district spokesperson Celina Baguiao.

Baguiao said all campuses have mental health support providers, academic support providers, and a way to report bullying either directly or anonymously. She also said Vallejo schools contract with outside agencies about bullying, including governmental agencies and nonprofits. There is a care team at Hogan that meets weekly to discuss concerns and an “end of day huddle” with staff to check in with each other about occurrences throughout the day.

Another mother of a child at Hogan said that abuse her daughter faced at the hands of kids there and even a teacher ramped up after Therese’s suicide.

“My daughter’s depressed,” Lauren Keltz, mother of a 13-year-old girl currently at Hogan, said she told a school administrator. “She told me that she is feeling worthless and stupid and suicidal. And I said to the school, ‘I’m telling you right now … because of your guys’ lack of intervention, I’m going to hold you personally accountable.'”

Keltz said no one ever pulled her daughter aside to ask how she was doing.

She said initially the bullying at the school allegedly came from a teacher, who called her daughter “stupid” and “retarded.”

The teacher did not respond to a request for comment and the school district also declined to comment.

Keltz said the news of Therese’s death after her own daughter’s experience at the school horrified her and made her more determined to speak out about what she says is happening at Hogan.

Lawsuits against school districts for bullying are not that uncommon. Last August, the El Segundo Unified School District in Los Angeles County was ordered to pay $1 million in a suit filed on behalf of a 13-year-old girl who was bullied, with students going as far as creating a petition to end her life.

This February in Ocean County, New Jersey, a 14-year-old girl who was bullied took her own life and her alleged attackers have been charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. The superintendent of schools in the community has also resigned as a result. The district is currently being sued for another case of alleged bullying as well.

For Therese’s family, suing the Vallejo district is a way to try to foster change.

“I don’t want my daughter’s life to be erased,” said Caguin. “I want something different from the school. Don’t ignore those things that are happening. Even if my daughter’s not coming back, they have to change.”

Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

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KatyStClair1639p03/03/23

CONTACT: Bryan Harrison, attorney for Caguin family bryan@h-klaw.com

Celina Baguiao, spokesperson for the Vallejo City Unified School District cbaguiao@vcusd.org

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: Images related to this story can be obtained from the following Bay City News Service web links:

https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20230210-SUICIDE-01.jpg

Vionalyn Caguin sits at the grave of her 11-year-old daughter, Maria ‘Therese’ Caguin, at All Souls Cemetery in Vallejo, Calif., on Feb. 10, 2023. Maria took her life on Jan. 2, after being repeatedly bullied at Hogan Middle School in Vallejo. The family is suing the school district. (Ray Saint Germain/Bay City News)

https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20230210-SUICIDE-02.jpg

Vionalyn Caguin wipes away tears as she speaks about her 11-year-old daughter, Maria ‘Therese’ Caguin, at All Souls Cemetery in Vallejo, Calif., on Feb. 10, 2023. Maria took her life on Jan. 2, after being repeatedly bullied at Hogan Middle School in Vallejo. The family is suing the school district. (Ray Saint Germain/Bay City News)

https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20230210-SUICIDE-04.jpg

Vionalyn Caguin holds a photo album of photos of her 11-year-old daughter, Maria ‘Therese’ Caguin, at All Souls Cemetery in Vallejo, Calif., on Feb. 10, 2023. Maria took her life on Jan. 2, after being repeatedly bullied at Hogan Middle School in Vallejo. The family is suing the school district. (Ray Saint Germain/Bay City News)

https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20230210-SUICIDE-05.jpg

https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20230210-SUICIDE-06.jpg

The grave of 11-year-old Maria ‘Therese’ Caguin at All Souls Cemetery in Vallejo, Calif., on Feb. 10, 2023. Maria took her life on Jan. 2, after being repeatedly bullied at Hogan Middle School in Vallejo. The family is suing the school district. (Ray Saint Germain/Bay City News)

https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20230210-SUICIDE-07.jpg

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

5 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

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By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.