Girl, 12, became 'almost nocturnal' on Snapchat and Minecraft before taking her own life

From the Newshound archive · first published 24 September 2026.

Angel Karanja, a 12-year-old from Poole in Dorset, was found dead in her bedroom at 7.30am on 17 March after police later discovered she had been active on Snapchat until 5am. Her father, Eliud Matindi, told a Bournemouth inquest she had grown increasingly withdrawn after struggling to settle at Cornerstone Academy in Hamworthy, spending hours on YouTube, Minecraft and her phone. Matindi said he believed she had turned a corner — her attendance had improved and she had found friends — before she died.

Angel had told a friend she would 'rather be in hell than at school' shortly before her death.

A search of her Samsung phone and tablet found no evidence of cyberbullying or suicide-related searches.

Matindi told the inquest: 'Angel was the light of all our lives and she brightened every single day.'