Mother speaks of agony after 13 year old daughter killed herself because topless picture she sent to her boyfriend was plastered across the internet

Hope Witsell took her own life in 2009 after horrific online bullying after a 'sext' she sent to her boyfriend was maliciously posted to social media

Her mother, Donna Faye Witsell is now at the forefront of a campaign to educate parents and students on the dangers of social media and cyber-bullying



The mother of a tragic 13-year-old who took her own life four years ago following vicious cyber-bullying has spoken out today to warn students about the perils of social media.



Donna Faye Witsell's daughter Hope committed suicide after a topless picture she sent her boyfriend was stolen by another girl student and quickly sent around another dozen schools in Ruskin, Florida.



Addressing students of John Hopkins Middle School in St. Petersburg about the issue of cyber-bullying, Witsell cautioned that 'There's no facial expressions that go through the Internet. It doesn't go through your phone.'

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Tragic: Hope Witsell took her own life in September 2009 after being bullied over the Internet by fellow students at her school in Rankin, Florida

Mission: Donna Faye Witsell spoke to students at John Hopkins Middle School in St. Petersburg of the need to respect social media and not to bully each other using the Internet



Heartbroken by her loss, Witsell said that Hope should be in her senior year of high school preparing for homecoming, football and the prom.



Instead, Witsell is touring schools educating students Hope's age about the perils of instant decisions using social media apps such as Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Singled out because a 'sext' she sent her-then boyfriend was callously sent around without thought of recourse to her feelings, Witsell told those gathered how her daughters life was made a misery.



'She was ridiculed. She was called names. She was spat on. She was shoved into lockers,' said Witsell according to WTSP.Com.

Shame: Hope Witsell was pursued on the Internet and physically abused by her bullies at Shields Middle School in Ruskin, Florida

Hurt: The Witsell family were obviously devastated by the death of their Hope and want to see it never happen again

That was in the spring term of 2009 and before Hope could do anything the photograph had gone viral.



According to a CNN investigation in the aftermath of Hope's suicide, they discovered that Shields Middle School in Ruskin, Florida, did alert Witsell and her husband.



'The assistant principal had a meeting with my husband and I and pretty much told us that he did not see the image but that he had heard that it was Hope and when he confronted Hope, Hope did not deny it. She wasn't proud of it but she didn't lie,' Hope's mother said to CNN.

However, what Hope did not tell her parents was that the picture sparked remorseless bullying online and actual physical brutality by fellow students aged 12 and 13-years-old.



They called her a 'slut' and a 'whore' and a 'skank' said her friend Kyla Stich.



One other friend, Lexi Leber, said, 'We had to make like a wall, we had people surrounding her, and she had to be in the middle because people would come by and try to hit her and push her into a locker or something.



'She was afraid to walk alone, she was afraid someone would do something to her, like verbally attack her, so she would always have someone with her,' Leber added.

Mother and Daughter: Donna Faye Witsell with Hope - Donna is working with schools in the Florida area to make sure that cyber-bullying is understood by parents and students alike

Hurt: Donna Witsell says another student grabbed the boyfriend's phone and sent the image to students at more than a dozen different schools

On the Internet the bullying was centered around a MySpace page called 'Shield Middle School Burn Book' which had a 'Hope Hater Page'.



Summer vacation gave the teen a respite, but when school recommenced the bullying simply started back up where it had been left.



Then, on Saturday, September 12th, 2009, Hope lent a hand to her father to mow the lawn, then ate a seafood dinner with the rest of her family and went upstairs to watch television.



Donna Witsell recalls the harrowing moment she went to say goodnight to her daughter.



'I went upstairs to go in her room and kiss her goodnight. That was when I found her. I screamed for my husband. And started doing CPR,' said Witsell.



It was to no avail - Hope had used her favorite scarves to hang herself with from her canopy bed.



After her daughter's death, her older sister, Samantha Beattie was shocked to find that the bullying was still going on.



'I knew she had MySpace and Facebook. There were people putting comments on there: 'Did Hope really kill herself?' 'I can't believe that whore did that.' Just obscene things that I would never expect from a 12-year-old or a 13-year-old,' said Samantha.



Witsell wants students to know it doesn't have to happen to anyone else.

