Mom Allegedly Pushed Teen to Suicide, Watched It Unfold

A woman allegedly encouraged her daughter to commit suicide with comments posted on a live stream before the 14-year-old hanged herself in a bathroom, according to a horrifying report from the Florida Department of Children and Families. But an attorney for Naika Venant's mother calls the allegation "absolutely false." He says Gina Caze commented on the Facebook Live video only after Naika's death, which she thought was a hoax. Naika first entered foster care in 2009 at age 6 after she was beaten with a belt for engaging in a sex act at a male babysitter's house, reports WPLG. The Miami teen later told a therapist she slept in the same room as her mother's boyfriends and watched "sex movies," a DCF report states, per the Miami Herald. Her mother gave up custody in April 2016.

Before her death, Naika told a case manager she missed her mom, who opted to contact her through social media rather than attend court-ordered weekly visits, per DCF. As Naika contemplated suicide on Facebook Live on Jan. 22, officials say Caze, using the name "Gina Alexis," was one of hundreds watching. But while many tried to dissuade Naika, Caze posted comments that could be "mentally injurious to her suicidal child," the DCF says, per the Tampa Bay Times. In one, she allegedly called Naika a "sad little DCF custody jit," jit meaning young gangster. "U keep crying wolf u dead u will get buried life goes on," she added, according to DCF. A friend of Naika's saw the video and called 911, but it was too late. Caze's attorney blamed the girl's death on a series of bad foster-care placements. (More suicide stories.)