Shantrell Brown says her daughter had reported bullying at school while also receiving therapy for mental health struggles.
SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia mother whose 12-year-old daughter died by suicide is urging parents to pay close attention to their children’s mental health, school experiences and digital lives after she said the seventh grader had been struggling with depression and reported bullying.
Miracle Creswell, a student at Cowan Road Middle School in Spalding County, was found unresponsive at home after harming herself, according to her mother, Shantrell Brown. Miracle was taken to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank Hospital in Brookhaven. Brown said in a family fundraiser that her daughter died Nov. 7. The loss has left the family grieving while raising questions about what adults can recognize when a child is struggling privately.
Brown told FOX 5 Atlanta that Miracle had been dealing with mental health problems for about a year and was receiving therapy. Brown also said her daughter had told her she was being bullied at school and that she had spoken with school staff about the problem. Publicly available information does not establish exactly what happened between Miracle and other students or what actions the school took after Brown raised concerns.
Brown said she gained a fuller picture of what her daughter had been experiencing only after reading Miracle’s diary following her death. The writings, Brown said, showed that the seventh grader had been carrying emotional pain that was more serious than her family had understood. Brown has since urged other parents to ask children more questions and to pay close attention to changes in their behavior and online activity.
The death also deeply affected Miracle’s younger siblings. Brown said some of the children found their sister at home, and she described the experience as traumatic for the family. She said one younger daughter who had shared a bedroom with Miracle was afraid to return to the room after her sister’s death.
Brown is also calling for greater accountability when children bully classmates. She said responsibility should extend beyond students to adults who supervise and raise them. Her comments reflect her account of the circumstances surrounding Miracle’s struggles; authorities and school officials have not publicly established bullying as the cause of her death.
Griffin-Spalding County School System materials say bullying is prohibited and that complaints can be reported to school administrators. The district’s Student Services department provides access to bullying procedures and student conduct rules. The school system also says it provides mental health and behavioral supports intended to address students’ academic, behavioral and social-emotional needs.
The district’s safety guidance tells parents to pay attention to changes such as depression, anger, falling grades or loss of interest and says school counselors and mental health clinicians can assist students. District materials also encourage families to understand how children use social media and to maintain open communication about safety concerns.
Those policies do not answer what happened in Miracle’s case. FOX 5 reported that it remained unclear what steps Cowan Road Middle School took after Brown’s conversations with staff or whether a formal bullying investigation was opened. No public findings have been released establishing the conduct of any other student in connection with Miracle’s death.
Brown has described her daughter’s death as both a family tragedy and a warning that children may conceal the extent of their distress. As the family prepares to lay Miracle to rest, the questions surrounding the reported bullying and the school’s response remain unresolved.
Author note: Last updated November 12, 2026.