Authorities tell 8 On Your Side that a teenage girl took her own life at a state-run facility in Hillsborough County.
But Zy’kiria Bell’s family said the big question remains unanswered: how her death could have happened at all while she was under state care.
While the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said the county’s Medical Examiner ruled Zy’kiria Bell’s death a suicide, her family said they’ve been hearing a different story from the Department of Children and Families. With each passing day, they said they just want closure.
Zy’kiria was expected to return home on her 18th birthday on Aug. 10.
“We’re going to do her birthday party and coming home just like I promised her I would do and everything she wanted for that dinner,” said Sophia Bing, Zy’kiria Bell’s aunt.
Bing said her niece, Zy’kiria, died at Lake Academy, a state-owned facility in Tampa, on May 29. It’s sites like this one that are entrusted to care for our must vulnerable youth.
“To this day, I can’t understand how you can string a family along so long with no answers without telling them anything other than we have a criminal investigation,” said Bing.
Bing said the family hasn’t been told that her niece’s death has been ruled a suicide and questions what really happened based on what the DCF has told them.
“What has come back to us is by no means do they think that this she did this to herself, that there’s a criminal investigation going on between the different agencies and that’s all we know,” she said.
Days after Zy’kiria’s death, the Department of Juvenile Justice shut down the site.
“It took my niece to lose her life for you to go in and try to get answers to do something that should’ve been done a long time ago from the information that we’re getting,” said Bing.
The DJJ also said it terminated the provider’s $31.5 million contract for Lake Academy. That provider was TrueCore Behavioral Solutions, which is headquartered in Tampa.
According to DJJ, TrueCore still runs 12 residential sites across the state of Florida, including four in Hillsborough County.
“I think they should all be shut down not just one,” said Bing. “Why would you just shut one down because you lost a kid at the facility? Who’s to say the other ones aren’t running the same way and those kids aren’t suffering?”
TrueCore has since hired Tucker/Hall, a crisis public relations firm to represent them. When 8 On Your Side asked questions, a spokesperson said: “TrueCore doesn’t have any updates right now.”
“I don’t know; I need, we need closure,” Bing said. “We need closure and either way we’re going to have to accept it even if it was self [harm], which I don’t believe if that was the case, we got to accept it, and if it was the other way, we still have to accept it too.”
As Zy’kiria’s family desperately pleads for closure, they have this message for other families with children in state-owned treatment programs, like Lake Academy.
“Parents check on your kids, make sure your kids are safe in there if you’re going to keep them in there — start asking questions, get more in depth with what’s going on with where your kids are,” she said.
At this time, Hillsborough County has not yet released Zy’kiria Bell’s autopsy report, but 8 On Your Side obtained the Medical Examiner’s initial case summary report.
It said Zy’kiria was last seen on May 29 at 6:30 p.m. by staff who claim she was “argumentative and refusing to go into her room for the night.” Then a half hour later, 911 was called.
The Sheriff’s Office and paramedics responded. Zy’kiria was transported to the hospital where she died an hour later. In the report, the cause of death has been redacted, but again, the sheriff’s office said her death was ruled a suicide.
According to DJJ annual compliance report from 2023, staff at Lake Academy should have had completed a minimum of 120 hours of required training before having any contact with the kids. The training should have included a wide variety of topics including suicide prevention, but the report said staff failed to comply with this requirement.
A DCF spokesperson sent 8 On Your Side this message: “The Department conducts investigations concerning all allegations of abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Information regarding investigations is confidential per section 39.202, Florida Statutes.”
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Source: wfla
