ST. PETERSBURG – An 11-year-old girl accidentally hung herself last week in what a homicide detective concluded might have been a case of “suffocation roulette,” a game played by older children or early adolescents to obtain a brief state of euphoria, according to a police report.
Deneathia Service was found by her siblings hanging in a closet in her family home at 2700 22nd Ave. S. on June 15, the report says. Her 12-year-old brother Lavaris was in tears when he grabbed a 6-inch steak knife from the kitchen and cut the white belt his sister had tied to a shelf.
In the 24-page police report, Detective Sara Verel noted there was no indication Service was suicidal. She also noted Deneathia had “faked death” in the past and that Deneathia’s mother, Deneathia Smith, after learning of her daughter’s game-playing post-mortem, concluded the girl might have been taking part in some activity associated with suffocation roulette. For More Click Here.
Gone But Not Forgotten 