"Dear Family," Velia Huerta Victorino began her handwritten letter. "Sorry for what I did, but I had to. No one liked me anymore. All my friends left me because what people were saying."
At the bottom, Velia drew a heart, signed her name and, in a postscript, wrote, "I was 15."
A few hours later, as her mother slept nearby, the girl hanged herself from a beam in the living room of her family's San Bernardino home.
In the 10 weeks since Velia's death, her mother and sister have angrily blamed the suicide on what they said were years of bullying by other girls that eventually became unbearable.
But although it is tempting to look for easy answers, the tragedy -- like most teen suicides -- isn't simple to sort out.
Her death, a month after a friend of Velia's hanged himself, has unsettled the working-class neighborhood in which she lived, prompting school officials, neighbors and classmates to try to puzzle out what drove Velia to kill herself -- and what could prevent similar tragedies.
From conversations with Velia's family and others who knew her, and from documents in her school file, a portrait emerges of an isolated, tormented girl who fought often with others and had been suspended from school several times, once for threatening a teacher. Velia also had had a troubled home life with a mother who struggled to help control her daughter's anger.
In 2002, more than 4,200 Americans aged 10 to 24 committed suicide, making it the third highest cause of death in that age group. Most, experts say, suffered from depression or other mental illnesses that left them vulnerable and unable to cope. Velia may have been no different, according to several experts.
"The combination of mental illness, the perception that you have a problem that is unsolvable and coping skills that don't work tends to lead to death," said Joan Asarnow, a UCLA psychologist and national expert on teen suicide.
Born into a family that dates back generations in the blue-collar streets of San Bernardino, Velia was the youngest of five children. When she was little, her parents divorced.
Over the years that followed, the family moved frequently, subsisting on welfare, child support payments and Social Security. By the time she turned 12, Velia had attended at least three elementary schools.
As early as second grade, records show, Velia had "behavioral problems" and was struggling to read and write. Teachers described a girl who could turn in moments from sweet to angry and who had trouble making and keeping friends.
