LOS ANGELES — A 17-year-old senior at Benjamin Franklin High School in Highland Park died after falling from a fourth-floor balcony during the school day, following a classroom fight captured on video, as his family described years of bullying that he was afraid to report.
Xavier Nungaray fell around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30, according to the Los Angeles Police Department and fire officials. Paramedics transported him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Authorities have said there is no evidence of foul play and that the investigation remains ongoing. Preliminary police findings indicated the student was not being actively chased or threatened at the moment he went over the railing, though student-recorded video showed an earlier altercation.
Video circulating online shows a physical confrontation inside a classroom, with a teacher attempting to intervene before Nungaray was punched. He then left the room and was later seen going over the outdoor corridor railing. One report noted an attacker shouting racial slurs during the incident. The Los Angeles Police Department has acknowledged the videos and interviewed the other student involved.
Nungaray’s stepmother told CBS Los Angeles that he had been bullied throughout high school but hesitated to speak up. “He was scared that he was gonna end up getting punished instead of the bullies,” she said. Family members said the bullying dated back years, that he had wanted to transfer schools, and that they pointed to the fight video as occurring shortly before the fall. An aunt told the Los Angeles Daily News that relatives were not certain whether the student in the video had bullied him previously.
Hundreds of students, parents, and community members gathered Thursday evening outside the school at 820 North Avenue 54 for a vigil, leaving flowers, candles, and signs that read “Stop the hate. Stop bullying” and “Justice for Xavier.”
Friends described him as a kind, quiet student who could make others laugh. Some parents at the memorial expressed frustration that school officials had not done more to address bullying, with one saying the outcome could have been avoided if fights and harassment had been taken more seriously.
Los Angeles Unified School District officials said the campus remained open the following day with grief counselors and mental health support available, citing privacy rules that limited what the school could disclose. Family members said they were upset that classes continued so soon after the death and that they had sought to speak with the principal.
The Northeast Division of the LAPD, school police, and the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner are jointly investigating. Authorities have not publicly released an official name or additional details on the circumstances leading to the fall.
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