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A mother is suing Des Moines Public Schools after she says her daughter died by suicide in 2023 because of the actions of school leaders at a middle school. Leilani Gonzalez was in the seventh grade at Harding Middle School during the 2022-2023 school year. In March of 2023, she died by suicide, a week after her 13th birthday. “She was super outspoken and strong, which is why I’m trying to get some of that energy right now from her to do what I know she would want me to do. She was amazing. She was like the therapist friend in her group,” said Danielle Yonemura, Leilani’s mother. “For me, she was my everything. So for me, losing her was like …I basically lost my whole world.” In both the lawsuit and in her own words, Yonemura says it was bullying at Harding Middle School during Leilani’s seventh-grade year that led to her death. “When the situation surrounding this case took place, she had actually been referring to themselves as 'he' and went by Koa at that time,” said Yonemura. “That last month of her life, she kind of was going back and forth on whether or not she wanted to revert back to female or be nonbinary.” According to the lawsuit, Leilani was bullied by other students and faculty regarding her perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, and mental health disabilities. “With the school administrators, you guys are the school administrators,” said Yonemura. “You're the people that she's supposed to go to when she needs somebody to talk to about these things, and she doesn't even feel comfortable enough to go and speak to you guys.” It’s also written in the lawsuit that Danielle complained about the bullying to school leaders and Leilani was suspended for months “on a pretext. Through the lawsuit, Danielle says Leilani was falsely accused of being the aggressor in fights when Leilani “experienced physical violence from other students, and was suspended and only allowed in limited online school for the remainder of the year."Another line in the lawsuit claims faculty “refused to refer to LG by her nonbinary pronouns and male pronouns."“One time I got a call home and somebody at the school—one of the faculty there—started chuckling. It was the first time I had ever really communicated with that person in particular, and they were calling her ‘she, her’ and ‘Leilani’ on the phone,” said Yonemura. “I was a little taken aback. It’s ‘he, him.’ Why are you calling me and thinking that it’s funny to disrespect my child?” A spokesperson with Des Moines Public Schools says the district does not comment on pending litigation outside of Court. A district attorney did file a motion to dismiss the case. That court document shows the district denied the allegations made in the lawsuit. “Even if we don’t win it, just apologize. Admit to your wrongdoings because a child lost their life,” said Yonemura. “A mother and a family are hurting and lost their baby. That’s my baby. She was my whole reason for living.”In addition to an apology, Yonemura says she’s also fighting in hopes of bringing change so no other family has to go through what she and hers is going through. “Had she not been isolated from her peers and been told and labeled this terrible child who had all these problems now out of nowhere — had those things not happened to her — she’d still be here,” said Yonemura. » Subscribe to ����vlog's YouTube page» Download the free ����vlog app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play