A 14-year-old Ernest Righetti High School student killed herself on Nov. 1 at about 8 p.m., according to Lt. Kevin Huddle of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. Huddle said the student, Kiya McBride, died in her Orcutt home that evening.
The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District was informed of McBride’s death the following day, according to district Public Information Officer Kenny Klein, and all Righetti parents, guardians, staff, and teachers were notified of the death.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the student’s family and friends,” Klein said in statement to the press.
Counseling services, he said, are available to teachers, staff, and students in need.
Santa Barbara County’s Crisis and Recovery Emergency Services teams, which provide psychiatric evaluations, can be reached at 1-888-868-1649, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides mental health services for individuals of all ages and can be reached at 1-800-273-8255.
Kiya’s mother, Amanda McBride, shared a public post on Facebook on Nov. 5, which tagged Kiya’s father Mark McBride, saying, “There are no words for the pain, emotions, and emptiness that we will feel for years to come with the loss of our beautiful daughter Kiya Rae’Ann.”
Amanda wrote in the post that Kiya was “in heaven and no longer suffering,” and explained that she was receiving treatment for depression, including counseling and medication, before her suicide.
“We want the world to know that she was suffering from a sickness, she was battling depression every day,” Amanda wrote in the post. “She fought a good fight and every person that was there for her mattered so much. She was surrounded by love and support and I know that what happened in the end had been prevented numerous times before, by the love that others showed her.”
Amanda also thanked the community for support given to the family following Kiya’s suicide, and said that she and her husband will be lifelong advocates for mental illness and suicide awareness.
“If her story can create awareness and saves even one other child, that is the positivity and hope that will keep us going,” Amanda wrote.
This article appears in Nov 9-16, 2017.