A teenager from Vermont was harassed by school bullies relentlessly to the point where she took her own life. 

Isabelle Vezina-Dykema, 14, from Winooski near Burlington had been attending Mill School, an alternative high school for students with complex needs but was the victim of constant bullying.

The teen was in her first year at the school and was tormented both in person and over text with cruel taunts that made fun both of her appearance and her mother’s.

Heather Miller, her mom, had recently been dealing with complex health problems, including recovering from recent brain surgery that had left her with a shuttered eyelid.

She recounted how on the day of Isabelle’s suicide, Isabelle came home extremely distressed from school. Heather gave Isabelle some time to work through her feelings, but unbeknownst to her, the abuse had driven her to breaking point.

The 14-year-old from Winooski near Burlington had been attending Mill School, an alternative high school for students with complex needs but she was the victim of constant bullying

‘I thought I was doing the right thing, but in 35 minutes our whole lives changed,’ Heather said through tears to WCAX, describing her as ‘spunky, so outgoing [and someone who] loved to dance. 

‘She was excited about the school year, excited about being a freshman. “I’m finally in high school, I’m not going to let things bother me, I’m going to succeed,”‘ she recalls her daughter saying. 

On September 15th, the day of her death, Heather shared her devastating news with friends and family.

‘My world stopped today. We lost our precious Isabelle Vezina. I am forever changed. I can not and will not ever be the same without my baby girl. None of us will,’ Heather wrote.

‘Fourteen years with you wasn’t even close to enough. I’ve always thought of myself as strong. Never have I felt so weak. I am consumed with a pain too immense to measure and too deep to heal,’ she added.

Isabelle was known as an outgoing, bubbly energetic girl reads an obituary to the teen.

Heather was in tears as she told of the struggles her daughter faced to a local TV station

Her mom Heather said Isabelle’s bullies made fun of her mother’s appearance 

She enjoyed sports, ice skating, baking and cooking, dancing, and making TikTok videos with family and friends. 

‘Isabelle was a bright spark and destined to be a huge personality,’ the obituary reads. 

Her mother went to state how she takes comfort from the fact her daughter’s organs were able to be transplanted.

‘She saved 7 lives and gave a child sight. Her brain was received by autism research which is a near and dear cause to us,’ Heather wrote.

In a another posting, a photo of an urn containing Isabelle’s ashes can be seen sitting atop a cabinet in the family’s living room.

‘This isn’t how you were supposed to come home,’ Heather wrote in a heartbreaking post. 

‘I miss you so much baby. I miss everything about you. The pain is unbearable but we are doing everything we can to honor you and help others .’

The teen was in her first year at the school and was bullied both in person and over text

Isabelle’s ashes now sit in an urn atop a cabinet in the living room of the family home

Meanwhile, The Mill School are investigating the claims of bullying but have not elaborated on the allegations.

‘We, at the Mill School, have been devastated by the loss of one of our students. We are working with the appropriate agencies and continue to provide counseling support,’ officials said in a statement.

Teen suicides appear to be a growing problem in Vermont with at least one death every year since 2019 in 14 to 14-year-old.  

‘Very much our adolescents not only feel things in extremes, they also feel like now will be forever. They may have this really strong emotion and feel trapped,’ said Matt Wolf, an experienced Community Organizer with the nonprofit Vermont Afterschool to CBS3.

The Mill School are investigating the claims of bullying and have not elaborated on the claims

Christ Allen, left,  of Vermont Department of Mental Health says at least one third of high school students experience poor mental health. Matt Wolf, right, an experienced Community Organizer, says teens experience very strong emotions

The Vermont Department of Mental Health says at least one third  of high school students experience poor mental health.

‘That is a cause of alarm for me because that means that close to half of high school students feel like they don’t matter,’ said Chris Allen from VDMH. 

‘Our bullies are calling for help or crying out for help in the only way they know. I think if we address them in more of a therapeutic way, more of a concerning way instead of a punitive way, we might actually get somewhere to reduce bullying,’ Allen said.

Isabelle’s family are hosting a celebration of life event at Waterworks Park next to the skate park in Burlington on Saturday 28th September from 2-9pm.

For confidential help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

A judge on Friday dismissed the lawsuit two senators filed in June against Gov. Phil Scott over his appointment of interim Secretary of Education Zoie Saunders. The lawsuit also named Saunders as a defendant.

In the lawsuit, state Sens. Tanya Vyhovsky and Richard McCormack argued that Scott violated the Vermont Constitution when he selected Saunders to fill the interim role after the Senate voted 19-9 against her permanent appointment. Vermont governors must obtain the Senate’s “advice and consent” prior to filling a secretary of state agency’s seat, the senators said.

A month later, the Vermont Attorney General’s Office requested the lawsuit be dismissed, primarily arguing that Scott does have the constitutional authority to appoint interim cabinet positions even after rejection from the Senate, and that he is following precedent set by previous governors. The Attorney General’s Office also contended that the senators’ claim was not “ripe” and they lacked standing and were raising a political question.

Vermont Superior Court Judge Robert A. Mello agreed with the Attorney General’s Office that Scott’s actions were lawful and based on precedent, but disagreed that the senators lacked standing, ripeness or presented a “nonjusticiable political question.”

“To extent that the Senators argue that the Senate’s decision not to confirm Ms. Saunders prevents the Governor from reappointing her, whether on an interim or permanent basis, the court disagrees,” Mellow wrote in his Sept. 27 ruling. “There is no statute that so provides.”

“When the legislature has wanted to so limit the Governor’s appointment power, it has simply said so,” Mellow added, referencing the statute that prohibits governors from appointing a nominee to the Green Mountain Care Board whom the Senate has failed to confirm within the past six years.

Mello’s decision comes just a day after the judge heard oral arguments from both sides.

Saunders’ term as interim secretary of education ends Feb. 28 next year.

Megan Stewart is a government accountability reporter for the Burlington Free Press. Contact her at mstewartyounger@gannett.com.

A New York man accused of killing his father, stepmother and 13-year-old stepbrother in Vermont earlier this month appeared in court in Lake George on Thursday and waived having an extradition hearing, according to the district attorney.

Brian Crossman Jr., 23, of Granville, New York, faces three counts of aggravated murder in the fatal shootings of Brian Crossman Sr., 46, Erica Pawlusiak Crossman, 41, and Colin Taft, 13, in their Pawlet, Vermont, home on Sept. 15, state police said. He will be moved to Vermont to face charges.

The investigation found significant evidence linking Crossman Jr. to the killings, including digital information, statements, injuries and various interviews, Vermont State Police said. His public defender representing him in New York did not return a phone message seeking comment.

A search of his cell phone found multiple internet searches related to serial killers and unresolved murders, police said. Relatives told police that he had a troubled relationship with his father because of Crossman Jr.’s mental health and learning disability.

He was spending the weekend with his father and stepmother while his mother was out of town, according to a police affidavit. The couple had married in July and Erica Crossman told her husband’s friend that didn’t feel safe with Crossman Jr. at the home and she was afraid to be there alone with him, according to a police affidavit. Crossman Jr. called police shortly before 4 a.m. on Sept. 15 to report that he had found the three family members shot, and that the residence was covered in blood, police said.

He then agreed to meet with Vermont State Police Corporal Joseph Duca who said when they met, Crossman Jr.’s clothes were covered in blood, according to the affidavit.

Crossman Jr. said he his clothes had blood on them because he tried to drag his deceased father outside of the house and load him into a utility vehicle to take him to his grandmother’s house across the road, police said.

Police said they found multiple guns and ammunition around the house as they were investigating the killings, including a semi-automatic handgun on an area rug in the mudroom, a 12-gauge shotgun on a table in the dining area, another shotgun on a couch, and an open firearm cabinet and firearm safe.

Crossman Jr. was admitted to a mental health unit of the Glens Falls Hospital on Sept. 15, according to police. New York State Police arrested him on Sept. 19, and he made an initial court appearance in Warren County Court on a charge of being a fugitive from justice on Friday. He is being held without bail.

State police previously said autopsies determined Brian Crossman Sr.’s cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head and torso, Erica Crossman died from a gunshot wound to the head, and Colin Taft’s cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds.

Brian Crossman Sr. was a selectboard member in Pawlet. Mike Beecher, chairperson of the five-member board, said in a statement last week: “Brian Crossman was a friend and neighbor, a hardworking community member who just this year stepped up to join the Pawlet Selectboard.

“This tragedy that struck him and his family has also hit our community hard, and we are shaken and grieving. Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating loss.”

Neighbors told CBS affiliate WCAX-TV that the shooting left them shaken.

“It’s very hard to comprehend. It just hasn’t sunk in. We just visited the family three nights before the deaths,” next-door neighbor Oliver Ihasz told the station.

Brian and Erica Crossman got married in June of this year, the Bennington Banner reported.