At Sammy’s funeral, sad video shows his parents holding his coffin and crying as other people walk by. They said they were “honored” to host Sammy’s motorcycle protection and that Iron Sharpens Iron motorbike Ministry would be there.
A service was held in a nearby hall before he was buried. During it, his family and friends spoke fondly of him and his family, and a priest read a farewell prayer.
A neighbor named Andrew McIntosh gave the child’s farewell, talking about how Sammy quickly became friends with his son Judah after moving into the neighborhood. A handsome little boy stood in his hallway, looking like he could have been from an Andy Griffith show or a Norman Rockwell picture, he said. According to the source from Greenfield.
He said, “I knew right away that my son had made a good friend.” The 10-year-old seemed to be popular with the other kids in the neighborhood and was often seen with “the biggest smile on his face.” McIntosh said, “He just stared up at me sweating, those glasses rising up on his cheeks over a smile that was way too big for his little face.”
“But when he did smile, and I mean really smile, he seemed to erase all the darkness in the room.” On Friday, there will also be a candlelight vigil in Greenfield to remember Sammy’s untimely death.
Sam and Nichole, his parents, said he was bullied at school, both physically and mentally. They said he was picked on every day until the night he died.
He was bullied at Greenfield Intermediate School, they said, starting in grade school last year.
He was recently beaten up on a school bus because of the abuse. Sammy’s parents said they told teachers and school staff 20 times about the bullying but got no answer.
Samuel, his father, told WTHR that they made fun of him first for wearing glasses and then for his teeth. It kept going for a long time. I wrapped my arms around him.
When I close my eyes, that’s all I see. I did something any father should never have to do. Samantha said, “He was beaten up on the school bus, and the kids broke his glasses and everything.” The school was called and asked what they were going to do. Problems are getting worse. It’s not getting better either. The situation is actually getting worse.
“They can’t just say they have zero tolerance,” his grandmother Cynthia told 21alive. “That doesn’t mean there is zero tolerance for bullies.”They don’t accept any blame, so they’re not responsible for it.
A lot of people trust the school with their kids, but that trust is fading. Greenfield Community Schools supervisor Dr. Harold Olin told WTHR that neither the parents nor Sammy turned in a bullying report, even though the family says they have complained to the school dozens of times about the bullying.
Also, he said that school administrators and counselors had been talking to the family on a daily basis, but he didn’t say what they were talking about.
“The school knew this was going on,” Sam said, adding that the bullying was happening at school, on the bus, and on social media sites like Snapchat. Nicholle, his mother, said, “He was my little boy.” I loved him so much. His name was Christopher.
“The death of Samuel Teusch is tragic, and it has left our school corporation and the larger community in tremendous grief,” Greenfield-Central Community School said in a statement. We’re sorry for the family’s loss. From August 2015 to now, Sammy has gone to Greenfield-Central for school.
He graduated from Weston Elementary School in May 2023 after three years of third grade. For the 2023–24 school year, he is now in fourth grade at Greenfield Intermediate School.
It was Sunday afternoon when we learned of his death, so to start the week, we sent our crisis response team to Greenfield Intermediate School and Greenfield Central Junior High School, where he had two brothers.Our team in Greenfield-Central has worked with the Teusch family a lot over the last 18 months.
There was regular communication between school staff and parents. “Her parents said she killed herself, and we are looking into their claims of bullying.”While the investigation is still going on, our main focus is on meeting the pressing needs of the students in Greenfield-Central Schools.
