Winnipeg family calls for raising awareness on bullying after 11-year-old dies by suicide
Posted March 12, 2026 7:19 pm.
Last Updated March 12, 2026 7:24 pm.
A Winnipeg family is calling for raising awareness on bullying after their 11-year-old daughter died by suicide.
Laurenta Colombe says her daughter Marietta hanged herself last month after allegedly being bullied and constantly picked on at Ralph Brown School.
On Feb. 4, Colombe went to get a cake for her son’s birthday. When she returned home two hours later, she made the horrifying discovery. Little Marietta was dead in the basement with a rope around her neck.
Colombe blamed the bullies for her daughter’s death.
“I’ve never found a dead person and it had to be my daughter,” Colombe said.
Colombe said Marietta was a kind and obedient child who loved to study and was passionate about arts and crafts.
“She was helpful, she was caring, she had a lot of questions of life,” Colombe said.
But, in the recent months, her once bubbly daughter had become quiet and was avoiding school.
It was around that time she noticed that her daughter was hurting herself.
“She was more quiet, she wasn’t so happy. She wasn’t showing me her schoolwork. She would just be very tired.”
In a statement to CityNews, Winnipeg School Division extended their condolences but declined to comment on the matter.
For those at the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, where Marietta attended afterschool activities the news of her suicide came as a shock.
“Marietta was incredibly kind and sweet. All our staff loved her, her leadership towards her siblings. She was very much a caregiver for them,” said Crystal Leach, youth program coordinator at the centre.
Since Marietta’s death, Colombe has been unable return to their family home because she says it is too devastating.
“I went there just to grab some items, but I couldn’t stay there long. It doesn’t feel good in there,” she said.
Colombe said she hoped her daughter’s story will spur action to prevent bullying.
“It’s a kid’s human right to feel safe where they play, to feel safe where they learn and to be heard,” Leach said.
