Ally said Nex primarily went by he/him pronouns at school but also used they/them pronouns, which Nex’s family also used. Several other friends said Nex preferred he/him pronouns.
The Owasso Police Department said in a statement Wednesday that preliminary information from an autopsy report shows Nex’s death wasn’t the result of trauma. A toxicology exam is still pending, and an official autopsy will be released later.
The department released a series of videos Friday that offer a glimpse into the day before Nex’s death, including body camera video from a police officer’s interview with Nex, in which he described how three students “jumped” him after he threw water on them because they were bullying him and his friend.
Ally and Nex’s friend group would always get in trouble for laughing too loudly, particularly in art class, Ally said. Nex — who was also known by friends as “Roach” or “Roachie” — was a talented artist and could spend 30 minutes working on something that turned out to be a “masterpiece,” Ally said.
Ally said the minute they saw the news article about an Owasso student dying after a fight, they knew it was Nex because Nex told Ally and other friends in a group chat that he had been in a fight.
“They were always someone who was never afraid to be who they are,” Ally said. “It was like wherever they went, you were going to accept them, and if you didn’t, that was your problem, and they were going to make it your problem. They were very confrontational.”
Ally was one of a few people who shared stories about Nex at a vigil Sunday at Redbud Festival Park in Owasso.
Tyler Wrynn, who was one of Nex’s teachers at the Owasso 8th Grade Center, told NBC News ahead of the vigil that Nex wasn’t on his roster but that “he and a plethora of queer kids were always in my room” because they knew Wrynn offered “a safe space.”
“Nex was a fiery kid,” Wrynn said. “He would light up a room and jump to defend any of his friends if they were getting picked on.”