Bullying victim's mother on 'Oprah'

By Christian Boone

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The mother of Jaheem Herrera appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" Wednesday in an episode about bullying taped three days after the 11-year-old was laid to rest in his native Saint Croix.

Masika Bermudez, of DeKalb County, was interviewed alongside Sirdeaner Walker, of Massachusetts, whose 11-year-old son Carl Joseph Walker-Hooker was buried less than two weeks before. Both boys committed suicide after enduring relentless, sexually themed taunts.

Jaheem seemed especially depressed when he returned to Dunaire Elementary following the Easter holiday, his mother said.

"He don't want to eat," Bermudez told Winfrey. "He don't want to brush his hair. He don't want to brush his teeth. I thought he was sick."

In their last moment together, Bermudez said she high-fived her son after seeing his report card. Jaheem then walked to his room and hanged himself.

"Did your son leave a note?" Winfrey asked Bermudez.

"No. He just did it," she responded.

Dorothy Espelage, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois, said Jaheem was a victim of "sexual bullying."

"Schools are ignoring [this]," she said. "It's the most hurtful thing you can do to attack [a boy's] masculinity."

Jaheem's death is being probed by DeKalb school officials and the county's district attorney.