After grabbing national headlines as the focal point of 2006’s “Jena 6”
assault case in Louisiana, Mychal Bell says that he felt tremendous
pressure to be perfect. Last month, the teen was arrested for
shoplifting and battery and he says the shame of that arrest is what
led to a failed suicide attempt in late December. “I just got to the
point where I just couldn’t take it anymore,” Bell told CNN. “People
were … just waiting [for me] to mess up. People were preying [on me].
‘Just mess up, just mess up.’ There was a lot of pressure on me.” .
Bell took his Christmas
money and bought a gun. After receiving one, he went to his
grandmother’s house to carry out his suicide plans. “I stood up, and I
just put the gun to my head, and when I put it to my head, the gun
clicked,” he said. “So I was like, the gun must not be working.”
Determined, Bell put the gun to his chest and fired again. “When I shot
… I just stood there, and then I hit the floor, and then I couldn’t
breathe,” he said. The bullet punctured his lung and after being rushed
to the hospital and seeing the pain his family was in, the young man
realized his mistake. “”I would have hurt my family, my friends, my
classmates and everybody who support me,” Bell said.
In December 2006, Bell and five
other black teenagers were charged in adult court with attempted murder
and conspiracy charges following the beating of a white classmate in
Jena, Louisiana. The incident followed months of racial tensions in the
community of about 3,000 people; and the charges, which many people
viewed as excessive, sparked protests around the country. An estimated
15,000-plus people came to Jena for a September 2007 rally on the
youths’ behalf. The charges were eventually reduced and Bell, then 16,
pleaded guilty to battery in a juvenile court. He later moved to
Monroe, LA.
On Christmas Eve 2008, police say that a surveillance video
appears to show Bell and an unidentified male in a Dillard’s department
store. Bell appears to stuff merchandise into a bag while the other
person looks out. After walking out without paying, Bell was approached
by a security guard who took the bag. Bell and the other male then
fled. Bell then hid under a parked car and when security tried to pull
him out, Bell elbowed the officer. He was subsequently arrested and
released on bail.
He said he was distraught after the arrest and ‘could never
get back right.’ Since his suicide attempt, however, Bell is back in
school, despite being in pain from the surgery and gunshot wound. He
can’t comment on the allegations due to the case being pending. He’s
refocused on finishing high school. “The biggest thing is graduation,”
he told CNN. “One of the main things you want to do is walk across that
stage and get that diploma. … And everybody will say, ‘he did it.’ ” todd williams
