Fifth-grade Cassopolis student claims they were the recent target of a bullying incident

CASSOPOLIS, Mich - A fifth grade student at Sam Adams elementary school in Cassopolis claims they were the recent target of a bullying incident, where a group of classmates wrote a disturbing story on a PowerPoint depicting her murder.

The family of the student is now concerned for her safety.

“This is wrong, clearly wrong and the schools not there,” said Kyle Bennett, the student's father.

Just starting her first year at Sam Adams elementary in Cassopolis, Kyle Bennett's daughter claimed she was the target of bullying throughout the school year.

It all came to a head on April 14th, when she said classmates made a disturbing PowerPoint depicting how they were going to kidnap and murder her.

The parents immediately contacted the school's administration and police to report the incident, but Bennett feels the school has not done enough.

“It's very disappointing to know that every day when my daughter asks me are these kids going to be there, I have to tell her I don’t know, I've called the school, I've made my point, nothing is happening but every day she has to come home and she has to tell me well why are these kids still here if they are doing these bad things , you say that they are bad things and yet they are still there and it hurts I don’t know I feel like I let her down, the school is definitely letting her down,” said Bennett

The girl's family believes no disciplinary action has been handed down to the students involved which left them frustrated.

‘I've talked to the superintendent, I've talked to the Cassopolis village police, um nothing is being done, one person tells me they have to wait on another person, I talk to that person they have to wait on another person,” said Benett.

The girl's grandmother, Cindy Bennett, a retired administrative assistant for Dowagiac schools is echoing the same concerns for her granddaughter's safety.

“The story in itself, the content is life threatening and that warrants you to be suspended immediately with let's investigate and see how this was created, none of that was done,” said Bennett.

Cass County prosecutor Victor Fitz said as of today, the investigation is complete, and the case is being reviewed for a possible juvenile petition.

“We’ll be making a decision on it and we will likely have the family in so we can talk to them a little bit about where this may go and it’s a process that shouldn’t take more than 5-10 days,” said Fitz.

The family tells me they plan to discuss the incident at the next school board meeting on Monday June 19th.