NEW YORK, Oct. 25: The mother of a 10-year-old Virginia girl who died by suicide earlier this year says she now regrets allowing her daughter to have a smartphone in her bedroom at night, after learning the child had been using it just before her death.

Autumn Bushman, of Roanoke, Virginia, died on March 21, according to her obituary. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia ruled her death a suicide, CBS affiliate WDBJ reported. Autumn’s parents, Summer and Mark Bushman, confirmed the cause of death in interviews with local outlets.

Speaking to CBS News in an interview aired Thursday, Oct. 23, Autumn’s mother, Summer Bushman, said she wishes she had delayed giving her daughter a phone. “She deserved to live life, and I will never see her go to a homecoming or prom,” she said. “I’ll never see her, you know, get married, or in a wedding dress. And that’s really difficult.”

Autumn, a student at Mountain View Elementary School, had reportedly been bullied, her family said. “We reported the harassment to the school,” Mark Bushman told WSLS in March. “They said they had handled it, and that was about as far as it went. But as far as we know, what we were told — at least by our daughter — was that it kept happening.”

Summer Bushman recalled that her daughter had come to her in tears, asking to stay home from school. “She said, ‘Mom, I’m just really stressed out. I’m being bullied. Can I please stay home from school tomorrow?”

Following Autumn’s death, Roanoke County Public Schools issued a statement expressing condolences to the family and community. “We are incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of one of our students at Mountain View Elementary School,” the district said. “While we cannot discuss specifics due to federal privacy laws and out of respect for the family, we are conducting a thorough review. Our schools take all reports of bullying and conflicts among students very seriously.”

In July, the Roanoke Police Department said its investigation found no evidence of criminal activity. “The goal for police is to determine how she died and if there was any criminal activity involved,” the department said in a statement. “After all the evidence they reviewed, police determined there to be no criminal activity, hence no charges.”

According to CBS News, records show that Autumn was on her phone in her bedroom just before her death on March 21. Her mother said she had allowed Autumn to keep the device nearby at night after the girl insisted she needed it for an alarm. “I had questioned that a couple of times,” Summer said. “And she fought back and said, ‘Mom, I need my alarm.’ And every single morning when I’d wake her up, she had her alarm going off.”

A recent Virginia Tech study cited by CBS News found a link between nighttime screen use and suicide attempts involving medication overdoses among young people. “Most overdoses occurred late at night, often during or after screen use,” the university said in a release. Researchers noted that both prescription and over-the-counter medications were frequently involved, underscoring the risks of easy access to pills.

“The team’s analysis showed that late-night hours appear to be a period of heightened emotional vulnerability for young people,” the release said. “Combined with the immediacy of social media and the availability of medications at home, that window can become dangerous.”

Dr. Abhishek Reddy, a professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine who led the study, told CBS News it is “pretty dangerous” for bullied children to have phones with them at night. He recommended prohibiting phone use in bedrooms, maintaining healthy sleep habits, and restricting access to medications.

Since her daughter’s death, Summer Bushman has urged parents to be vigilant about their children’s digital lives. “Go through your child’s cell phone to make sure that they are being kind to other children,” she told WSLS in March. “Go through your child’s cell phone to make sure children are being kind to them.”