Jada West collapsed after fighting another middle school student near her Villa Rica neighborhood and died at a hospital three days later.
VILLA RICA, GA — A 12-year-old Georgia girl died three days after collapsing following an off-campus fight with another middle school student near a neighborhood school bus stop, authorities said, as police reviewed video and other evidence to determine what happened.
Jada West, a sixth grader at Mason Creek Middle School, was involved in the fight March 5 after students had been dropped off from school in a Villa Rica-area neighborhood west of Atlanta. Police said the confrontation occurred outside school grounds and after school hours. Jada walked away after the fight but collapsed before reaching home. Emergency responders were called and found her in cardiac arrest. She was taken to a hospital and died March 8.
Cellphone video reviewed by investigators showed Jada and another girl approach each other and exchange punches after the school bus left the area. The girls fell to the ground during the confrontation before an adult intervened, according to reports describing the recording. Jada then picked up her backpack and began walking away. Police have treated the video as part of a broader investigation rather than as a final explanation for her death.
The exact medical cause of Jada’s death had not been publicly established in the latest reports reviewed. Her family said she suffered a serious brain injury, but authorities were awaiting autopsy findings as investigators examined whether and how the fight contributed to her death. Police said their findings would be reviewed with the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether criminal charges were appropriate.
Jada’s family has said she had experienced bullying and has called for a fuller examination of events before and after the fight. Relatives and attorneys representing the family said they wanted to know whether problems involving other students had been reported previously and what happened while the students were traveling home on the school bus. Those claims have not been established as findings by investigators.
The Douglas County School System said the physical fight did not occur on school property or during normal school hours. The district also said it had no indication that the confrontation was connected to an activity on campus. After Jada’s death, the district made psychologists and counselors available at Mason Creek Middle School to support students and employees and expressed condolences to her family.
Attorneys for Jada’s family later said they were gathering information about the circumstances surrounding her death and considering whether any person or institution could bear legal responsibility. They said they wanted information about the events on the bus, the dispute among students and whether anyone had an opportunity to prevent the confrontation from escalating. No such responsibility had been established when those statements were made.
Family members remembered Jada as a kind child who cared deeply about animals. Her mother, Rashunda McClendon, described her as loving and said the family wanted violence among young people to stop. A memorial was established near the area where the fight occurred as classmates, relatives and community members mourned her death.
The case also drew support from former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, who offered to cover Jada’s funeral expenses after learning of her death. O’Neal, who serves in a community relations role with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, said through a law enforcement announcement that he wanted to ease some of the burden on the family. His involvement was separate from the police investigation.
The latest public reports reviewed said Villa Rica police and prosecutors were continuing to examine the circumstances of Jada’s death, including video and witness information, while awaiting medical findings. No charging decision or final official cause of death was announced in those reports.
Author note: Last updated Sept. 16, 2026.