'Instead of Shopping for Christmas, We're Picking out Caskets:' Why Would a 9-Year-Old Girl Commit Suicide?

Family and friends are mourning the death of 9-year-old McKenzie Adams, a fourth grader at US Jones Elementary School in Linden, Alabama.

McKenzie was found hanged in the home where she lived with her grandmother on Dec. 3.

"Instead of shopping for Christmas, we're picking out caskets for my 9-year-old," her grandmother, Janice Adams, told ABC News.

The girl's family blames bullying for her suicide, saying McKenzie had told school officials that she was being harassed.

Her mother, Jasmine Adams, told a CBS affiliate that the bullying was racially motivated because her daughter, who is black, was being driven to school by a white family and was friends with a white boy.

"It was just things you wouldn't think a 9-year-old should know.  And my baby to tell me some of the things they had said to her, I was like, 'Where are they learning this from?'" Adams said.

"McKenzie was bullied and was told to kill herself by other students," her aunt Eddwina Harris told the Tuscaloosa News.

All the factors in McKenzie's death are not entirely clear, but the issue of young kids committing suicide is a growing problem in the US. Cases often involve bullying, either in person or on social media.

Earlier this year, 9-year-old Jamel Myles of Colorado took his own life. His mother said he killed himself because he was being bullied after saying he was gay.

A total of 1,309 children from the ages of five to 12 have committed suicide since 1999 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the CDC, "Bullying behavior and suicide-related behavior are closely related. This means youths who report any involvement with bullying behavior are more likely to report high levels of suicide-related behavior than youths who do not report any involvement with bullying behavior."

The child internet safety app called Bark says after analyzing over 500 million messages across texting, email and social media of children ages 8 to 17 last year, 54% of teens and 40% of tweens engaged in conversations about depression and or anxiety.  Eighteen percent of teens and 11% of tweens were involved with a self-harm or suicidal situation.

Youth suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people between the age of 15 and 24 according to kidsdata.org.

A study that came out in December of 2017 found the risk of teen depression and suicide is linked to the use of smartphones. 

One of the authors of the study found that teens who spend five or more hours per day on their devices are 71 percent more likely to have one risk factor for suicide.

"It's an excessive amount of time spent on the device. So, half an hour, an hour a day, that seemed to be the sweet spot for teen mental health in terms of electronic devices," Jean Twenge told NPR. "At two hours a day there was only a slightly elevated risk. And then three hours a day and beyond is where you saw the more pronounced increase in those who had at least one suicide risk factor."

And with younger and younger kids using phones nowadays, some suggest they may also be at risk.

According to the website Parenting First Cry, "Research has shown that by merely talking on the phone for 2 minutes, the electrical activity inside a child's brain can be changed. This erratic activity can cause problems in mood patterns, behavioral tendencies, and have trouble learning new things... or focusing properly."

Several states are beginning to require mental health education for students to help them cope with some of these issues facing kids from bullying to depression and suicidal thoughts.

Meanwhile, officials at McKenzie's school said they found no evidence that she was being bullied.

"We have concluded our internal investigation to the allegations of bullying which led to this senseless death. There have been no findings of any reports of bullying by either the student or family. The findings of this internal investigation are consistent with the results of the investigation of the Linden (Alabama) Police Department at this point in time," according to a statement obtained by the Tuscaloosa News.

Her family argues that is not true.

"She was being bullied the entire school year, with words such as 'kill yourself,' 'you think you're white because you ride with that white boy,' 'you ugly,' 'black b—h,' 'just die'," her aunt Eddwina Harris said.

A funeral for McKenzie is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. in the gym at US Jones Elementary.