Hey y’all, it’s Julie Mattson, and today’s episode of Pushing Up Lilies is one that’s especially difficult to talk about. It’s the story of 12-year-old Khimberly Zavaleta, a young girl whose life ended far too soon after a violent incident at school. According to reports, Khimberly was trying to protect her younger sister when another student threw a metal water bottle at her in the hallway at Reseda High School. The impact left her injured, but after receiving treatment she was sent home. For a moment, it seemed like she might recover. But just days later, Khimberly suddenly collapsed. She was rushed to the hospital where doctors discovered a severe brain hemorrhage. She slipped into a coma, and despite efforts to save her, Khimberly never made it out of the hospital. In this episode, I walk through what we know about the incident, the timeline leading up to Khimberly’s tragic death, and the questions many families ask when bullying turns violent. This isn’t just about a hallway confrontation, it’s about a young girl who stood up for her sister, a family now grieving an unimaginable loss, and a community grappling with how something like this could happen. Behind every headline is a child with dreams, a family who loved her, and a future that should have been. Today, we remember Khimberly Zavaleta and take a closer look at the heartbreaking consequences that can follow a single moment of violence. 💔 * Listener discretion is advised.
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00:06
Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies. I'm your host, Julie Mattson. Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine-tingling, unusual, and terrifyingly true stories from my perspective as a forensic death investigator and a sexual assault nurse examiner.
00:24
Do I have some stories for you? Are you ready? Hey guys, welcome back to another episode. I want to say we had such a great meet and greet at the McCart Street Mercantile in Crumb on Friday, and I had so much fun.
00:43
I just really want to thank everybody for coming out and I was really overwhelmed by the number of people who attended. So, you really don't have any idea how much this means to me. As a podcaster, because my work is really not monetized, because I really don't have any sponsors, sometimes I wonder if anybody's out there.
01:08
I mean, I know I have people who download and I so much appreciate that, but the podcast itself actually costs me money and I don't want to stop doing it because I do have a lot of followers and everyone loves true crime, but I get a lot of emails and messages on Instagram and Facebook.
01:28
And I just can't explain how great it made me feel to see how many people showed up and offered their support and then shared their equal passion of true crime. I'm always a little bit overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge that people have with certain crimes and families and murderers.
01:52
And so, I find myself sometimes unable to really remember specific names or incidents. And then I realized the difference the other night. My passion for true crime and death investigation comes from exposure, training, and responsibility.
02:11
So, most people consume true crime as entertainment. They actually listen to podcasts when they're driving for long distances, or they binge on documentaries at night and they focus on plot twists and shocking details and courtroom drama.
02:30
And then when the episode ends, the case ends. But I have actually stood in the room. As a forensic nurse death investigator, I've seen what blood looks like on tile. And I know how a body changes hour by hour.
02:49
I understand lividity, rigor, decomposition, trajectory, scene preservation. I don't really view cases as a story. I view them as puzzles with legal, medical, and emotional consequences. So, a lot of people might ask, what happened?
03:11
And in cases that I'm investigating, I ask questions like, what does the scene say? What does the body confirm? What contradicts the narrative? And what will hold up in court? And what gives the family the answers that they need?
03:31
So, someone without field experience focuses more on the suspect. And I actually focus on the decedent. Somebody who's inexperienced reacts emotionally to the gore. Everyone loves seeing blood and guts.
03:48
And I mean, even when I worked scenes along this side of the highway, people would hit their brakes to just stop and try to see something. But I stay methodical and I stay detached. And that's mainly because the accuracy in my investigations makes a huge difference.
04:12
Someone new to the field might see mystery, but I see things that really matter like documentation and chain of custody and timelines and pathology and toxicology and missed red flags. But my passion has not always been curiosity.
04:35
It's more of a duty. So, I know that one overlooked detail can change the manner of death and a criminal charge, a family's closure, a civil lawsuit, or even a career. So, I'm not drawn to true crime for shock value.
04:57
I'm drawn to it because I understand the weight. And that difference shapes how I teach and it shapes how I podcast and it shapes how I speak about cases because I bring credibility and lived experience and professional accountability.
05:17
So, I don't romanticize death investigation. I respect it. And so that was one thing that I really thought about the other night. I was really like amazed, I think, at the number of people who really are passionate about true crime and the number of people who know all the cases and all the details.
05:40
I just come at it from a little bit of a different perspective. And I know it's hard to understand if you've never worked in the field, but that kind of helps differentiate me from a lot of other podcasters.
05:52
I've actually stood in a field with a dead body covered in insects, and I've actually stood in a home where someone's been murdered. And a lot of people can't say that. A lot of people have never been in that situation.
06:09
They've never experienced that reality. And they've never felt the feelings that I have felt. And so, I think that makes a big difference when it comes to podcasters for some reason. I feel like I bring a lot to the table that other people don't.
06:28
I mean, some people are, they're passionate about it, which is great, but they don't have that experience, and they don't have that background, and they haven't actually been there. That's kind of what sets me apart.
06:41
I was thinking about that the other night. I was like, you know, there's a big difference between me and some of the other podcasters in that I've actually lived it and been there and I've stood in a room where someone's been murdered and I've rethought everything that happened in the room.
07:02
I try not to romanticize it. I don't want to ever make the killer look like a hero. I know that things matter as far as criminal charges and closure for the family. I don't do this just because I'm curious.
07:21
I do this because I love it and I want to help find some closure for a lot of the families. And one thing I want to talk about this week, and it's kind of interesting because I have a Marco Polo with my friends from elementary school.
07:37
We've all been friends, most of us since second grade. Some people moved in at different school years, but for the most part, we've all been friends for 50 years. And, you know, we've lost touch time and time just because we've had children and just life was lifeing, you know?
07:58
And so, we have all stayed friends. And the cool thing about that is we pick back up like nothing ever stopped. We were talking the other day on Marco Polo. We use Marco Polo. I'm not very good at keeping up because just because I'm trying to get better at finding the time to, like sit down, and listen to recordings.
08:24
But someone was talking about their granddaughter being bullied at school. And one of my other friends, Leanne, was talking about how she, you know, opened a can on a couple of girls when we were younger.
08:38
And you know what? I love that. And I know that, you know, back then it happened. Kids were bullied and we just handle it. We didn't go home and we didn't have to really talk to our parents about it.
08:52
Maybe we talked to our siblings about it. Maybe our siblings kind of helped us out a little bit on the DL. No one knew about it. But bullying is a thing and it happens a lot. I've worked a lot of death investigation cases where kids were being bullied at school and then all of a sudden, they've overdosed on something because they just can't handle the pressure and they can't handle the stress.
09:22
It's so sad. And those cases are terrible because it really catches the parents by surprise. It's completely unexpected. And even though the parents may have known it was going on, I don't think they really understood that it was as bad as it was.
09:38
But this case is heavy. The one I want to talk to you about. It's about a 12-year-old girl and it's about bullying and it's about how one object, something that's found in almost every backpack in America, can actually become a fatal weapon.
09:57
So, this is the story of Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa. Now, this is recent, February of 2026, inside a hallway at Reseda Charter High School in Los Angeles. A confrontation unfolded between students. According to news reports, Khimberly stepped in during an altercation involving her older sister.
10:27
Family members said her sister had been experiencing bullying. That particular day, tensions escalated, and during the confrontation, another student allegedly threw a metal water bottle, and it struck Khimberly in the head.
10:46
And when school was out, her sister was in the school hallway. This is how it went down. And a tall boy came up to her and he was pushing her. And Khimberly's sister said, what's your problem with me?
11:03
Let's go to the principal's office and talk about it. But he ignored her. So, Khimberly pulls her away, so they don't hit her sister. And that's when Khimberly gets hit in the head with this water bottle.
11:19
And at the time, it didn't look like a fatal injury. There was no knife, no gun, no obvious catastrophic trauma. She complained of severe headaches, and she was taken to the emergency room and she was released.
11:36
And days later, she collapsed. Doctors later determined that she suffered a brain hemorrhage. So, she was rushed to UCLA's children's hospital and underwent emergency surgery. And she was placed in a medically induced coma.
11:54
And the doctor said they were going to have to perform surgery again. And the mom said, you know what? Save my daughter. Just do what you need to do. Save my daughter. And Chuquipa said that doctors actually discussed a fourth surgery, but they told her there's a 1% chance that her daughter would live.
12:17
And mom said that they got together with the family and agreed to do the surgery. They wanted to go ahead and take the chance. 1% chance, there's still hope. There was hope that they would be able to do something.
12:33
And then at the last minute, they decided not to operate because she was brain dead. And on February 25th, she died. Now, her mom is now afraid to send her oldest daughter to school. She's afraid that something's going to happen to her because she's already lost one child and she doesn't want to lose another one.
12:57
So, as the baby of the family, she brought a special light and joy into the family's lives. And she loved music and volleyball and walks with her dogs. And she had dreams for the future. Now, the LA Police Department actually opened a homicide investigation because everybody involved were minors.
13:20
The identity of the student who allegedly threw the bottle has not been publicly released. Now, as a death investigator, I want you to understand something. Blunt force trauma to the head does not always present immediately as catastrophic.
13:40
So, the skull can be completely intact. There may be no external bleeding at all. And a slow bleed can be going on inside the head that can build pressure over hours and over days. And children have smaller margins for swelling.
14:02
And the brain doesn't really tolerate pressure well. And so, a metal water bottle, can you only imagine, is not soft plastic. A lot of them are stainless steel. Some of them weigh over a pound when they're full.
14:21
And when you throw them with force, they become a projectile. This case forces us to confront a difficult truth. Bullying is not harmless and it's not a rite of passage and it's not just kids being kids.
14:41
It can escalate really quickly. And so, we want to talk about what bullying looks like in schools today. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, roughly 20% of students aged 12 to 18 report being bullied at some point.
15:02
And this includes physical bullying, verbal harassment, and social exclusion, as well as cyberbullying. And that's not something that we used to have to deal with when I was younger. We didn't have the internet.
15:16
We didn't have to worry about someone going online and talking bad about us and trying to make us feel like we were less than what we are. Cyberbullying actually adds a layer that we didn't have to face.
15:33
And harassment doesn't stop when school is over. It follows students home. It follows them home through phones and group chats and social media posts and anonymous messaging apps like Snapchat. And so, in this case, reports indicate ongoing bullying towards Khimberly's sister.
15:59
Khimberly just simply stepped in to defend her. And this is something many siblings would do. But the conflict among adolescents often lacks impulse control. So, the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that's responsible for judgment, is still developing well into the 20s.
16:23
Combine that with like peer pressure, humiliation, and group dynamics, and situations really escalate quickly. Now let's talk a little bit about accountability. When a student throws an object and someone dies, the legal system evaluates a lot of different things.
16:44
And one of the things is intent, recklessness, and foreseeability. So juvenile cases are handled a lot different than adult cases, as many of you know. And prosecutors are going to have to consider age and prior behavior.
17:01
Have they been in trouble? And circumstances surrounding the event that happened. But because this case is under investigation, specific charges haven't really been publicly detailed. So, we don't know a lot about who did this and what the ramifications are.
17:21
What we do know is this, that this death is being investigated as a homicide. And homicide doesn't automatically mean murder. It means that the death is caused by another person. And so, there are a lot of layers here.
17:37
Things that we would want to know was, tell me a little bit about the prior reports of bullying. And at any point, did someone from the school intervene and step in and try to do something about it? And were the parents notified?
17:53
I mean, obviously mom knew that the sister was having episodes at school. And are there any disciplinary records against the kids who actually performed this crime? These questions actually matter because federal law addresses bullying primarily through civil rights protections.
18:19
When bullying is based on race, national origin, disability, sex, or religion, schools have obligations. And a lot of states have enacted anti-bullying statutes. California, where this actually occurred, has one of the more detailed anti-bullying framework.
18:43
Schools are required to have policies for reporting and responding to bullying in California, and staff are mandated to intervene. But policy on paper, as we all know, doesn't always translate into prevention.
19:02
What are schools doing nationally? A lot of districts implement social emotional learning programs, and these focus on empathy, conflict resolution, and emotional regulation. But research from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning shows schools implementing structural programs can see reductions in disciplinary incidents and actually improved peer interactions.
19:35
Some schools use some anonymous reporting apps and students can actually submit concerns about bullying without fear of retaliation, which is awesome because you know that has to be a big fear and the main reason why a lot of kids don't stand up and tell someone.
19:56
A lot of schools actually train staff to recognize warning signs, like if kids seem withdrawn or say they're going to the nurse frequently to get away from other kids, or their grades are going down.
20:14
They're not doing well in school and they used to. Or they have injuries maybe that are unexplained. But despite these measures, we still have serious incidents that are occurring. And the reason is because bullying is not one-dimensional.
20:32
It thrives in silence and it thrives in group dynamics, and it thrives when bystanders stay quiet, when people in the group who know what's going on don't say anything. Even when they know it's not right and they don't want to be held responsible, they still don't stand up for the child that's being bullied.
21:00
And in this particular case, reports described multiple students involved in harassing behavior before the bottle was even thrown. So, group behavior changes, as we all know, is going to change individual behavior.
21:17
When several students participate, responsibility is going to diffuse, and each person feels less accountable because everyone else was doing it. Which, you know, like our moms always told us when we were kids, if everyone else jumped off a cliff, does that mean it's okay for you to do it?
21:37
I know I'm sure y'all heard that from your parents, just like I did all the time. But everyone feels a little bit less accountable when there's a group of people doing it. Now, I want to speak directly to parents.
21:52
If you're a child, and this is something as a death investigator that we had happen a lot in elderly people who were on blood thinners and, you know, they fell and everything was okay. And maybe sometimes they didn't even tell anybody that it happened.
22:08
But then they started getting headaches or they started getting confused and their mentation started changing. If your child or anybody complains of a severe headache after a head injury, even if they had images initially that were negative and that didn't show that anything was wrong, monitor them very closely.
22:36
I can remember there was a time years ago, hadn't been a nurse very, well, I guess I had been a nurse very long. I did telephone triage and I worked for a company that took calls for patients that were seen by specific doctors who hired our service after hours.
22:55
So, when the office was closed, our nurses would answer, much like insurance companies do now, and just answer or ask a few questions. And based on the parents' answer, we would send them to the emergency room or tell them to follow up with the doctor or recommend specific medications.
23:16
And we would many times get calls because it doesn't mean you're a bad parent if your infant falls off the couch. But, you know, it scared these parents because their child was injured and they wanted to make sure everything was okay.
23:31
So, they would call in the middle of the night and say, you know, Susie fell three feet off my couch onto the tile floor. She cried for a minute. She seems fine now. I don't see any bruising. I mean, we would ask all the questions.
23:45
But there were certain things that we always told people to watch for if they suspected a head injury. And, you know, in those cases, if someone's moving their arms and limbs and everything seemed okay, you know, we weren't too concerned, but we did always tell the parents a few things.
24:03
Watch for vomiting. If they seem confused, it's alarming. If they seem to be in pain, if they seem to be disoriented, if they had changes in their vision, if they lost their sense of balance, they need to go to the hospital.
24:24
And I don't know what kind of testing was done on Khimberly initially when she presented to the hospital, but I think that sometimes urgency is overlooked. Sometimes it's thought of as if you're not having any symptoms, you're fine.
24:42
Go home and watch these things. I don't even know if an initial x-ray or CT was done on her, but I can guarantee you that the recommendation to follow up if there was any vomiting, confusion, pain, lethargy, vision changes, imbalance, I can guarantee you that those things were passed on.
25:06
Second, we definitely need to take reports of bullying more seriously. Document dates. Report concerns to school administrators and request meetings and follow up. Make sure something's done. Documentation creates accountability.
25:28
And so to educators listening, create clear reporting pathways. Make them visible. Train staff to intervene early in verbal and social aggression before it becomes physical. So if you're a student, if you witness bullying, your silence actually protects the person that's doing this.
25:52
So, you need to report it and support the target because one ally is going to reduce isolation. So, let's return to Khimberly for a minute. She was 12. She reportedly loved her family. She stepped into a conflict trying to protect her sister.
26:12
Her family's called for justice. A memorial grew outside the school and community members are demanding answers. And this is a ripple effect. So, her family is planning her funeral, and the students in the school are trying to process the trauma from this.
26:32
And a young person actually faces potential criminal consequences. And then the school is confronted with scrutiny. So as someone who has stood at scenes involving youth violence, I can definitely tell you this.
26:49
Nobody wins. This little girl is gone. This family is devastated. And the accused child's future is changed permanently. Research from the CDC shows students who experience bullying are at an increased risk for anxiety, depression, academic decline, and suicidal ideation.
27:17
And I've seen this a lot going on scenes where young children are committing suicide because they're being bullied at school. And the physical injury like Khimberly underwent is less common, but obviously it's not unheard of.
27:37
So, we need some layered prevention. We need clear policies. We need consistent enforcement. We definitely need parent involvement and some mental health support in schools. And we also need cultural change.
27:53
That's so important. We need to stop normalizing humiliation as entertainment. And we need to stop dismissing cruelty as toughness. And we need to stop telling children to toughen up without giving them the tools to fight for themselves.
28:14
So, if you're a parent, be sure and ask direct questions to your children. Who do they sit with at lunch? Has anyone said something that ever made them uncomfortable? I mean, one of the most important ones, do they feel safe at school?
28:31
And if you're a school leader, you need to track patterns, look at the hallways and check the locker rooms, and maybe even some online spaces. Parents need to monitor what's going on online a little bit more.
28:45
We need to intervene early. Now, this case is still unfolding legally, but facts are going to continue to emerge. And as always, we rely on verified reports and avoid speculation. But the central truth is a metal water bottle can lead to a fatal brain injury.
29:10
And a moment of aggression can actually end a life. And we know that bullying is not harmless and has legal consequences, medical consequences, and psychological consequences. And Khimberly's story forces us to confront the cost of dismissing early warning signs.
29:31
So, if you work in schools, I encourage you to review your protocols. And if you're a parent, have this conversation with your child tonight. And if you're a student, stand up for other students instead of being silent.
29:50
It's so important because prevention doesn't begin in courtrooms. It begins in the hallways of the schools. And Khimberly would still be alive. So far, over $199,000 have been raised to help this family.
30:09
Now, I will say if this episode resonated with you, please share it because conversation creates change. And if you're struggling or your child is struggling with bullying, reach out to your school, reach out to counselors.
30:27
And if you're a student, reach out to an adult immediately. We're going to honor Khimberly by refusing to look away. And I feel like this story is super important. Again, because friends of mine were just talking this week about her granddaughter being bullied.
30:47
And the subject came up in our conversations on Marco Polo. And I know this goes on every day. And with the number of school resource officers that we have in our schools, this should never happen. This should never have escalated.
31:05
And Khimberly should still be here. So, I just think that this is a super sad story. I don't remember bullying really being a thing when we were younger, although my friend Leanne swears that she has pulled some hair in her time and stood up for herself and her friends, which I love.
31:24
But we're not allowed to do that at school. We're not allowed to defend ourselves. And then something like this happens and then it's too late. We can't do it anymore. So, I don't know. I saw this story in the news, and it just made me super sad because she's only 12, y'all.
31:44
And it's just, it's crazy. We have all these teachers in the school monitoring the hallways. I mean, I feel like I didn't even get to go to the bathroom by myself when I was in school. And now all this stuff is happening in the hallways and nobody's there to monitor it or stop it.
32:02
I don't understand. And this really needs to be nipped in the bud. So, stand up. Ask your child those hard questions. Do they feel safe at school? And if you're at the school, monitor the hallways. Make sure nothing like this is going on.
32:24
And again, if you see this as a student, report it to somebody. So, I want to mention that I have the global conference coming up on March 19th. Go on my website, pushinguplilies.com, and you'll be able to actually see when my presentation is.
32:44
It's virtual, but it is live. So, I'm kind of excited about it. I have like a really good PowerPoint. So, I'm super excited about talking about how forensic nurses actually bridge the gap between the medical and the legal system.
32:59
And I'm excited that so many nurses are wanting to know more about my career. And I'm excited that I'm launching an educational opportunity for y'all and anybody interested in true crime, as well as law enforcement.
33:13
Coming up on CrimeCon, I'm super excited about ordering merch for y'all to purchase. And as soon as that's available, I will put it on my website for you to purchase. We will have the poker chips because it's going to be in Vegas.
33:28
So, I thought that would be kind of fun. The ones I ordered are ceramic. So, they're more collectible versus something plastic that's a little more inexpensive that people might actually just kind of throw in the trash.
33:41
These are actually collectible and they're going to have my QR code on the back so you can scan it and actually go directly to the website. Super excited about the sales that are coming in on the cereal box.
33:54
So don't forget pushingupbillies.com. You can order your cereal box online. And those are so fun because we all love true crime. And it's just so exciting to get something new every month or every other month or even every three months that kind of just sparks your interest in true crime all over again.
34:15
I have collaborated with some people on new and exciting items. They're going to go in the boxes. So, I'm super excited about that. I don't want to give away too many secrets, but there are some good things coming.
34:28
So super excited that y'all are listening and so glad to have you on board and a part of the family. Please share this with your friends. Again, go to my YouTube channel. Go ahead and subscribe to that.
34:43
It's Brains, Body Bags, and Bedside Manor. Has some exciting videos coming up for you to listen to. And we're going to have fun, y'all. So, I hope you have a great week. And I look forward to talking to y'all next week.
34:56
Thanks, y'all. Bye. Thank you so much for joining me today on Pushing Up Lilies. If you like this podcast and would like to share with others, please do me a quick favor and leave a review on Apple Podcast.
35:10
This helps to make the podcast more visible to the public. Thanks again for spending your time with me and be sure to visit me at pushinguplilies.com for merchandise and past episodes.