Florida boy kills himself before starting new school .
FORT LAUDERDALE , Fla. 1996-08-26
A 12-year-old Florida boy hanged himself in his backyard just hours before he was due to start at a new school on Monday , police said .
Samuel Graham , who told his family earlier that he was nervous about starting at a new school because he feared teasing about his weight problem , had been due to spend his first day at Parkway Middle School Monday , police said .
The boy was last seen alive Sunday night when he joined his two younger brothers and father in a bedtime prayer .
Two younger brothers found him hanging from a tree early Monday morning .
His father cut him down and tried to revive him but paramedics pronounced him dead when they arrived .
The Broward County Sheriff 's Office found a step stool and a flashlight under the tree where the boy was hanged .
They said there was no sign of foul play and that investigators believed the death was a suicide .