LAKELAND, Fla. - A 17-year-old girl living at a boarding school for girls in Lakeland complained of stomach issues for nearly a month – but was denied professional medical treatment – before she died in May of 2020, according to reports by the Polk County medical examiner and the Florida Department of Children and Families.The ME ruled the girl's death as natural, but a recently released report from Florida’s DCF calls into question the practices at the faith-based Lakeland Girls Academy for girls who have been deemed to have issues ranging from defiance to substance abuse.
The victim died May 19, 2020. A month before, she asked to be seen by a doctor for chronic stomach pain, the DCF report says.