Draven Rodriguez's parents told the Times Union that their son, a senior at Schenectady High School in Schenectady, committed suicide at his home.
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'Laser Cat' Teen Commits Suicide After Yearbook Request Goes Viral
The seventeen year old New York teen who became an Internet sensation for a laser cut yearbook photo died in an apparent suicide Thursday night, according to a report.
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"He made friends wherever he went," said his father, Jonathan stewart. "He had friends all over the country people he'd met at a youth-leadership conferences, online, just around town."
According to the reports, Rodriguez made national head headlines last September when he asked his school to let him pose for a yearbook picture with his cat, Mr. Bigglesworth, against a background of lasers.
"I don't want to go in the yearbook with the generic 'I-look-like-everyone-else' photo," Rodriguez said at the time.
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The school eventually rejected the Rodriguez's original photo idea, but allowed him to pose with his cat, lasers and principal Diane Wilkinson in another section of the yearbook.
"He wasn't trying to stir things up with it," Rodriguez's father added. "He honestly just wanted a silly photo because he had a great sense of humor."
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