Dunwoody High School mourns loss of student Mia Dieguez; community pays tribute

DUNWOODY, Ga. - The Dunwoody High School community came together on Wednesday evening to mourn the loss of one of their own. 

Fifteen-year-old Mia Dieguez died after suffering a medical emergency on campus on Tuesday morning. 

Family, friends, and classmates of Mia gathered at Brook Run Park to honor her life. Those in attendance shared memories and released balloons.  

Students at the vigil all agreed that Mia was funny and bubbly. 

"She was the funniest person I met in my entire life," said sophomore Isah Suber, who organized Wednesday’s vigil. "She just had that flare to her. She was amazing." 

"I literally talked to her on Friday before I left for school, I gave her a hug," said sophomore Muleya Teh. 

"Wishing she could come back and hug us tight, because I already know she’s in heaven just watching at us from above and laughing at us for crying," said Suber.  

Friends say Mia was active and devoted to JROTC. 

"Mia was an amazing person, and she did not deserve this at all, at all," said Teh. 

Suber asked that people stop assuming they know what happened or speculate on what reports mean.  

"Mia Dieguez was a light to this world and I hope that people take this to really see... just cherish everything. Cherish the people that you love, cherish your friends, even cherish, you know, if you had a bad fall out with someone, just don’t let it define you guys, because you never know when they’re leaving," said Suber. "Life is too short." 

Funeral details have not been announced.

Dunwoody mayor calls for better education for parents, students

Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch attended Wednesday’s vigil. She says she is comforted by the community rallying together to help each other heal. 

"It’s hard to believe that most of them are just sophomores," the mayor said. "There’s a lot of trauma associated with a loss like this." 

Mayor Deutsch says more needs to be done to help education teens about the dangers of drugs. 

"It’s horrifying to think someone is distributing this anywhere, but specifically in our high schools, but then again, not particularly surprising," the mayor said. "It is a true epidemic." 

The mayor says she has already spoken with officials and parents about the best way to move forward in drug education. 

"It’s unfortunate that we have to have these conversations, but that’s the world we live in," the mayor said, adding that it is important to have these hard conversations. 

Who was Mia Dieguez?

Mia’s family says she wanted to join the military and had a great sense of humor. 

In a GoFundMe set up for funeral costs, the teen was described as "a very loving and caring person." It went on to describe that the teenager died from a fentanyl overdose as a result of drugs she bought from someone at the school.   

Family members told FOX 5 News she suffered a cardiac arrest. 

DeKalb County School District Police confirmed Tuesday afternoon that they arrested a juvenile in connection with Mia's death. 

According to police, the juvenile was charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct. After being arrested, the juvenile was transported to the DeKalb Regional Youth Detention Center. 

Police are not identifying the juvenile because of their age.