A 15-year-old Oxford High student died Monday, the Calhoun County coroner said, after she was found unresponsive in a bathroom at the school. (Anniston Star photo by Stephen Gross)
Officials are waiting on results of an autopsy to say what caused the death of the 15-year-old girl, Brown said.
Neither he nor police Monday would identify the girl. The coroner said she was found unresponsive sometime Monday afternoon in a restroom at the high school.
She was later taken to Regional Medical Center in Anniston, where she was pronounced dead around 3 p.m.
Brown said he is not releasing her identity because of her age and said that, so far, there is little indication as to what caused her death.
Police don’t suspect foul play, though, and the coroner said the fatality could be related to a medical issue.
“We just don’t know yet,” Brown said.
Someone at the school found the girl in a restroom there and “knew she needed help and called the nurse,” Brown said.
Reached late Monday evening, student support services coordinator Roy Bennett said he hadn't had contact yet with the family of the student, and so declined to provide identifying details about her.
"I am not prepared to comment on your questions as we have not had the opportunity to share our information with our students and the majority of our faculty," Bennett said in an email to a Star reporter.
He deferred questions until a statement could be made by officials Tuesday.
"We would like to allow our Oxford family to first have the time to share with each other," Bennett said.
The girl’s body has been sent to a Huntsville laboratory for autopsy, Brown said, and he hopes to learn a preliminary cause of death by Tuesday evening.
Assistant Metro Editor Cameron Steele: 256-235-3562. On Twitter @Csteele_star. Star Staff Writers Brian Anderson and Patrick McCreless contributed to this report.
