In Illinois, a 10-year old girl committed suicide after enduring bullying that included her being called a boy when she had cut her hair short.

Ashlynn Conner lived in the small town of Ridge Farm in eastern Illinois. She was found hanged in her closet Friday night (November 11), and family members believe that it was due to the bullying and teasing that happened for several years of her life.

Ashlynn’s grandmother, Lory Hackney said that kids started to make fun of her when she started to cheer for youth football and had gotten her hair cut into a bob. They began to call her a boy, and soon from then followed fat, ugly, and slut.

Vermillion County sheriff Pat Harshorn said investigators are not ruling out bullying but there isn’t any evidence to support it as of date. The investigation is still in its infancy but the department is investigating whether Ashlynn was bullied through email, text messages, and Twitter.

Ashlynn’s mother, Stacy Conner said that her daughter came home from school Thursday (November 10) complaining about being bullied by other students and asked if she could be home-schooled. Stacy said that she would talk to Ashlynn’s school principal this week about the bullying that was taking place. On Friday (November 12), after Ashlynn had a phone conversation with her friend, she was found in her closet; Hackney, a retired nurse, tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate her granddaughter.

More than 100 people were at Ashlynn’s prayer service. Ashlynn was a fifth grader who had hopes to become a veterinarian and was on the honor roll.