A Tragedy That Changed Everything

On March 17, 2025, I lost my baby cousin, Mia Leah Mejia, to bullycide.

Mia was a beautiful spirit. She illuminated every room she walked into and filled our family with joy at every turn. I loved her dearly – like a daughter. I am proud to call myself her C.L.A.W. – her cousin-in-law – and I am proud to have been a part of her life.

Losing someone so young is a pain no person should ever have to carry. Our family was shattered. But I made a choice: I was not going to walk away. I stayed by the side of her parents, her siblings, and everyone who loved her. Because as much as I loved Mia, it was the people around her who shaped the person she became – and those people needed to know they were not alone.

In October 2025, we walked into the AUHSD Board of Trustees meeting. We asked them to provide support – real, meaningful resources – for Mia’s friends and classmates who were also grieving. Month after month, we kept showing up. We kept asking for acknowledgement, for accountability, for action on behalf of Mia and the students still sitting in those classrooms, still hurting. And month after month, the Board left us in the dark.

No family should have to fight that hard just to be heard. No community member deserves silence from the people elected to lead and protect them.

That is why I decided to run for School Board.

“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”

— Ida B. Wells

Those words stuck with me. I’m not running for office just to sit in a council chair and stay quiet. I am running to hold the Superintendent and school officials to the standard this community deserves – one of transparency, accountability, and action. When you bring your struggles to the Board, you will have someone at that table who listens, who follows through, and who never leaves you in the dark.