The day before 13-year-old Asher Brown shot himself was just like any other for the Cypress, Texas 8th grader. A kid tripped him as he walked down the stairs at Hamilton Middle School. He tumbled to the landing and tried to retrieve his book bag. But his books were kicked as well...

Then the bully kicked him down another flight of stairs.

The next morning, Asher confessed to his stepdad, David Truong, that he was gay. David was cool with that. But Asher wasn't. Or maybe he just wasn't cool with the way his gayness had made him an unrelenting target of bullies for the past 18 months.

So later that day, Asher went to his stepdad's closet and grabbed a gun. Then he shot himself. David would find him dead on the closet floor when he arrived home from work.

Asher's suicide was the culmination of 18 months of non-stop bullying at Hamilton, his parents say. He was small, didn't wear designer clothes, and perhaps a bit too effeminate for the other kids. They taunted him about his gayness and his religion, and would dry hump him during gym class.

David and Amy Truong say they made numerous visits and calls to the school, but claim the school did nothing. Their calls often went unreturned.

But the school claims no one ever reported the bullying. Perhaps someone didn't pass the warnings on to top officials. Perhaps the school's lying through its teeth because it's about to be lit up in court. Who knows what the truth is. But Amy Truong says it's the latter.

"That's absolutely inaccurate -- it's completely false," she told the Houston Chronicle. "I did not hallucinate phone calls to counselors and assistant principals. We have no reason to make this up. ... It's like they're calling us liars." (Special thanks to Mesa Bureau Chief Joe for the tip.)