Carol Deely lost her 12-year-old son Gabriel to suicide in November 2018, and she has spent the years since turning that grief into a mission: helping other families start conversations about mental health, recognize warning signs, and know where to turn for help. She shared that story again this week as part of a broader push in Chicago to confront a crisis still claiming young lives.
Gabriel died on November 14, 2018, a seventh-grader who, according to Gabriel's Light, had come home from school that day like any other. It was only afterward that his family discovered what he had been carrying. On his school-issued iPad, they found that he had searched for suicide, bullying and inappropriate sexual content repeatedly over the 11 days before he died, the organization says. Deely has said she later learned from Gabriel's peers at school that he had been struggling, a detail reported by CBS News Chicago.
Out of that loss, Deely founded Gabriel's Light, an organization focused on education and prevention surrounding youth suicide and mental health, according to the same report. The group says it works to prevent youth suicide through education, cyber safety and kindness campaigns, per Gabriel's Light's own account of its mission. Among its programs is a six-week certification class that teaches people how to care for someone in a mental-health crisis, the station's report notes.
A Mother's Message Reaches a New Audience
Deely's story resurfaced this week in a FOX 32 Chicago segment on tackling mental health issues, where she continues to help other families recognize the warning signs she missed in her own son and to point them toward resources before a crisis turns fatal. The same segment featured a counselor offering advice for parents and friends on spotting behavioral changes in a struggling child, along with guidance on starting difficult conversations and knowing when to seek professional help. Comedian Kellye Howard-Jue and Second City improv expert Lauren Walker also appeared, explaining how humor, play and improv can help people manage stress, process difficult emotions and build confidence.
The renewed attention comes as state data underscores why Deely's message still matters. Illinois recorded 1,426 suicide deaths in 2024, a rate of 10.8 per 100,000 residents, according to data reported by Shaw Local. That marked a decline from 2023, when the rate stood at 11.9 per 100,000, a drop of more than one death per 100,000 people in a single year, the outlet reported. Nationally, 48,824 people died by suicide in 2024, per the same CDC figures cited in that report.
Suicide Remains a Leading Cause of Death Among Young People
Despite the statewide improvement, suicide was the second leading cause of death for children ages 10 to 14 between 2018 and 2024, according to a JAMA Pediatrics study cited by Shaw Local. That statistic echoes a trend documented years earlier by the Chicago Tribune, which reported that the suicide rate among young people aged 10 to 24 rose from 2007 to 2017. The Tribune's reporting on Gabriel's death also cited Cook County medical examiner's office data showing 14 children under age 13 died by suicide from 2015 through 2019.
Chicago Public Schools has its own framework meant to catch students before a crisis becomes fatal. The district's Comprehensive Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Policy, adopted under state law requiring school boards to address youth suicide awareness, prevention, intervention, reporting and response, uses a multi-tiered system of support that includes universal, targeted and individualized help for students, according to the policy posted by Chicago Public Schools. Under that framework, Tier III includes confidential one-on-one clinical counseling and crisis counseling delivered by CPS Behavioral Health Teams, the policy states.
Where Families Can Turn for Help
For families navigating a crisis today, the city and state point to several resources. The Illinois Department of Public Health notes that the 988 line provides 24/7 confidential support for people experiencing suicidal thoughts or a mental health or substance-use crisis, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The City of Chicago's list of mental health crisis resources also includes the Trevor Project and Trans Lifeline among the options available to residents, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Deely's own path from devastating loss to advocacy has been documented across multiple outlets in the years since Gabriel's death, including earlier coverage from ABC7 Chicago and WGN Radio. Through it all, her focus has remained the same: giving other parents the tools to notice what she couldn't see in time, and the confidence to ask for help before it's too late.
