Reasons besides bullying for S. Hadley suicide?

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- A new report shows there may have been factors other than bullying that led to the death of a South Hadley student.

When 15-year-old Phoebe Prince committed suicide in January, six fellow South Hadley students were blamed for relentlessly bullying her.

The so called "mean girls" who reportedly saw Phoebe as a romantic rival, and the boys she dated, are facing felony criminal charges. Prosecutors say their torment in the months and days caused phoebe to hang herself at her home.

“From information known to investigators so far, it appears that Phoebe's death on January 14 followed a torturous day for her in which she was subjected to verbal and threatened physical abuse,” Massachusetts District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel.

All six accused bullies have been criminally charged with felonies and could face years in prison.

Court documents, recently obtained by Emily Bazelon of the online magazine Slate, contain police interviews with Phoebe's mother, classmates, teachers and administrators that tell a different story; one that suggests the teen's troubles extended beyond the halls of South Hadley High.

“I think for me the most surprising thing for involved her mental health history, because that really hadn't been disclosed,” said Bazelon.

The documents reveal that in November of last year, Phoebe attempted suicide by swallowing an entire bottle of the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel and going into organ failure.

Also detailed in the documents is the fact that Phoebe had taken Prozac, and had a history of cutting herself.

An interview with a classmate shows the extent of Phoebe's self-mutilation, describing how she "...lifted up her hoodie and showed cuts on her chest above her bra and all the way down to her hips."

“It changes how we might think about what happened in South Hadley as a result of the bullying and how much the kids’ bullying her would really be held responsible for her suicide,” Bazelon said.

There is no question Phoebe was bullied: evidence ranges from tortured text messages the day of her death to student and teacher testimony. But now, there are questions about whether bullying is the whole story.

“It's more complicated than the idea of a predatory pack of kids descending on her and there are different levels of culpability of the kids,” Bazelon said.

The six teens indicted in case face charges ranging from civil rights violations to statutory rape.

(Copyright 2010 NBC News Channel. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)