8-year-old girl dies from coronavirus-related syndrome in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA: An 8-year-old girl Deaurra Nealy from Jacksonville died from a COVID-19-related syndrome early Saturday morning.

Dearick Nealy, Deaurra’s father said, “She strived to be great at everything, her grades. She had all 100s and a 95, and she thought that wasn’t good enough. That’s the type of person she was. She wanted to uplift people, and she brightened the room when she walked in. I mean, she’s inspired so many people in such a short amount of time. I just knew she was just a perfect child.”

Deaurra was studying at Twin Lakes Academy Elementary.

According to her father, Deaurra died just days after the initial signs of the multisystem inflammatory syndrome. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MIS-C is a disease in kids that follows exposure to the coronavirus.

Dearick said his child’s tests had come back negative for the virus but also reported that she had been infected at one point.

He said, “A perfectly healthy child, just going in for a normal stomach ache and a negative COVID test. And then her fever wouldn’t break.”