School shocked, grief-stricken by 9-year-old's apparent suicide

School shocked, grief-stricken by 9-year-old's apparent suicide

12:00 AM CST on Saturday, January 23, 2010
By MATTHEW HAAG and JESSICA MEYERS / The Dallas Morning News
/ The Dallas Morning News
s Valerie Wigglesworth, Jana J. Martin and Abigail Thatcher Allen contributed to this report.
People close to a 9-year-old boy from The Colony struggled Friday to understand why he would take his own life.



MONA REEDER/DMN
Students paused at a makeshift memorial to fourth-grader Montana Lance in front of Stewart's Creek Elementary School on Friday. "That's the question we are asking and probably always ask," Brian Bradford, pastor at Horizons Church in The Colony, said a day after Montana Lance apparently hanged himself in a school restroom. "But something like this is just impossible to truly understand as far the rationale behind it."

The Colony police Lt. Darren Brockway said that Montana was sent to the front office at Stewart's Creek Elementary School shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday. While there, he asked the nurse for permission to use her restroom.

When the nurse realized he had been in the room for about 10 minutes, she tried to open the door, but it was locked. Montana had locked the door before when he was upset, Brockway said.

When the nurse got a key and opened the door, she found the fourth-grader unconscious. She placed Montana on a bed and started CPR, according to the 911 call.

"He locked himself in the bathroom, and he has done this before," school secretary Cheryl Smith, her voice shaking, told a police dispatcher. "There's no heartbeat. Oh, my God."

Montana was taken to Baylor Medical Center at Carrollton, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner's office, which said Friday that Montana died as the result of hanging.

"We believe this was intentional," Brockway said.

In a written statement released to parents Friday, Stewart's Creek Principal Lea Land said the school's staff tried to save Montana.

"The entire Stewart's Creek Elementary School's thoughts are with the family during this time of grief," she wrote.

Bradford, who went to the hospital with Montana's family Thursday afternoon, said his parents, Jason and Deborah, are struggling to deal with what happened.

"It kind of came out of left field for us, and that just adds to the tragic nature," Bradford said. "He was just a very giving kid and loved to give back and help people and help around the church."

Bradford said a Montana Lance Memorial Fund had been started at Wells Fargo banks to help his family cover medical and funeral costs.

More than 100 people, including many children, attended a candlelight vigil Friday night with tearful family members at First Baptist Church in The Colony.

"The reason why we are here tonight is to pray," said Mark Richardson, the church's pastor. "Tonight, we are crushed."

The funeral was set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church in Flower Mound.

Suicide at such a young age is rare, said Dr. Betsy Kennard, a psychologist and professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center of Dallas.

"At age 9, kids are just beginning to understand that death is final," she said.

Kennard, who specializes in the treatment of depression and suicide in adolescents, said youths typically don't have the long-term view of the world that adults do. They may think their despair won't go away, so there's more hopelessness, she said. Youths are also more impulsive, which puts them at higher risk, she said.

"What this says to me is that it's not an isolated event," Kennard said. "These kids typically have other things going on that need to be evaluated and treated."

About 90 percent of people who commit suicide have some sort of psychiatric illness that can be treated, Kennard said.

But that's not always the case.

"This could be a deeply troubled kid or a kid who just had a really bad week at school," said Dr. Marjorie Milici, a pediatrician at Baylor Pediatric Center.

Acting on those suicidal thoughts at such a young age is what makes this case stand out, both doctors agree.

Suicide is often related to feelings of despair. But with victims this young, Kennard said, the level of sadness may be less apparent. She advised adults to look for changes in behavior, such as being more irritable or more withdrawn. Aggressive behavior, lack of social skills or poor problem-solving abilities can also be signs.

Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Family and Protective Services, said authorities haven't asked Child Protective Services officials to investigate Montana's death.

Without that request, she said, she couldn't disclose whether CPS had previously visited the boy's home.

At Montana's one-story house Friday, a woman took down the names of visitors. Dogs barked in the back yard near a plastic playhouse.

Several blocks away, family and friends gathered at Montana's grandparents' house. A representative stood at the door with red eyes and said the family declined to comment.

Neighbors of the Lance family said they usually saw Montana and his younger brother wearing camouflage and riding mini-motorcycles in front of their house.

"They would play with all the other kids," said Chris Mata, who moved into the house the family used to occupy down the street.

At Christmas, Mata said, Montana and his brother helped string lights outside their house and hooked them to a radio so the lights and music were in sync.

Mata said his 4-year-old son occasionally played with the brothers.

Phil Myro, who lives a few houses down, said he often saw Montana watching his dad ride his motorcycle up and down the block.

Some parents dropping their children off at Stewart's Creek on Friday morning said they were unaware of the situation.

But Stephanie Rodriguez said the news about Montana troubled her 9-year-old son so much he slept with her Thursday night. His death is simply hard to fathom, she said.

Students, parents and staff members at the school are being given the option of speaking to grief counselors.


Staff writers Valerie Wigglesworth, Jana J. Martin and Abigail Thatcher Allen contributed to this report.

mhaag@dallasnews.com; jmeyers@dallasnews.com

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