Student at competitive NYC high school commits suicide after being caught cheating

A promising student at one of the most competitive public high schools in New York City killed herself after she was caught cheating on a German exam on Thursday.

According to authorities, 17-year-old Omotayo Adeoye allegedly wrote a suicide note on her German-language exam that read, "I just want to go away forever on the bottom of the river."

Adeoye, a student at the Harlem High School for Math, Science and Engineering, was caught using her cellphone by teacher Eva Malikova, who snatched it away from her. A male classmate told the New York Post that Malikova yelled, "Oh, you shouldn’t be cheating! You guys shouldn’t be cheating! You guys are lying to yourselves!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Adeoye allegedly yelled, before scrawling her suicide note on the test and running out of the classroom, never to return.

The school reported her disappearance at 4:20 p.m., but by that time, authorities believe she had already been dead for almost an hour.

Adeoye left the classroom, then the school and walked to the edge of the Hudson River at West 165th Street. She placed her school ID on a rock, then jumped in the water.

Her father told police that his daughter did not know how to swim.

Several students said that on Friday the teacher who caught her cheating, Eva Malikova, could be heard screaming in anguish, and did not teach any classes.

Watch a report on Adeoye's tragic death from ABC 7 News below.