Aubreigh Paige Wyatt had just begun 8th grade at Ocean Springs Middle School in Ocean Springs, Mississippi when her life ended on Labor Day, Monday September 4, 2023 after she made the unimaginable decision to end her own life at the tender age of 13.
Aubreigh’s mom, Heather, has opened up about her daughter’s story on TikTok & Instagram where her followers have steadily grown, rising to more than two million on TikTok & 75,000 on Instagram. Aubreigh’s death has been widely discussed across social media as many shared the story of her tragic suicide & the bullying that she endured before her death. It has been her mission to be Aubreigh’s voice since her daughter is no longer her to tell her story.
Heather has indicated that cyberbullying was responsible for her daughter’s death & went on to file a lawsuit against social media companies with that claim. She has made it her mission to stop bullying both in & out of school & bring awareness to teenage mental health.
Aubreigh was born in Ocean Springs, Mississippi on March 17, 2010. According to her obituary, she was a fantastic, straight A student, an amazing daughter, sister & friend. She had a 15-year-old sister, Taylor & a younger brother, Ryker, who was six. She adored typical teenage activities like spending time at the beach with friends, creating TikToks, riding four wheelers, gymnastics & her cat Zeus. Aubreigh was also an active member in her youth group at St. Paul UMC. She was adored by her mother, Heather & known for her outgoing, bubbly personality.
Aubreigh was a popular girl who had a close circle of friends, but during her time in 5th grade at Ocean Springs Upper Elementary School, she started to get bullied by a particular group of girls that targeted her at school, social events & on social media apps such as Snapchat. The girls began to spread rumors about Aubreigh which were absolutely untrue & despite the fact that Aubreigh tried her best to get them to stop, the taunting carried on for years. Aubreigh was surrounded by family & friends who adored her, but this one particular group was relentless & seemed to have it out for her.
According to Heather, Aubreigh was incredibly forgiving & wanted to live a peaceful, happy life. At times, things would settle down, the group would all be friends for a week but once again, the conflict would ramp back up & the bullying would resume which was an incredibly isolating cycle for Aubreigh.
Aubreigh had seen therapists in the past & was on a waiting list to see someone at the time of her death on Labor Day morning. Heather & Aubreigh openly talked about bullying & Aubreigh’s strong faith in God helped her cope. Heather always reassured her daughter, “This gets better.” She never saw any indications that made her believe that her daughter was suicidal & in fact, just the night before, Aubreigh told her mom about a vanity she was hoping to get for Christmas & put two different options in Heather’s Amazon shopping cart. After her daughter was gone, seeing the vanities still in the shopping cart was a devastating blow.
According to Heather, Labor Day morning started as a typical one, the only oddity was that Heather noted that Aubreigh hadn’t cranked the air conditioning down as she normally did during the night. When Heather began her workout, she started to get hot & headed over to the thermostat to adjust the temperature. As she did, in her peripheral vision, she could see Aubreigh in her bedroom & in horror, noticed that her beloved daughter was hanging in front of her window. She screamed in a way that her daughter Taylor later said she had never heard before. Taylor came running over & the two instructed young Ryker to stay out. Heather could immediately see that Aubreigh’s legs were discolored in appearance & she tried desperately to revive her 13-year-old daughter who had tragically died hours earlier.
Aubreigh had always stepped in as the little “mama bear” to both her younger brother Ryker & to her sister Taylor, who was also her best friend, who was older by 21 months. After suffering the devastating loss, all three began therapy to cope. Heather took medical leave from her job as a third grade teacher at Oak Park Elementary in Ocean Springs, a job she loved. The family, now of three instead of four, worked together to get through their first Christmas without Aubreigh as well as the six month mark of Aubreigh’s death. They came together as they waded their way through grief, some days better than others. They found that the sadness came in waves & could be randomly triggered by a song, a picture or something that reminded them of Aubreigh.
Within two days of her sister’s death, Taylor received a screenshot of what Aubreigh’s four bullies were sending around after her death & had posted to their Snapchats. Heather spoke out to highlight the fact that not only had these girls relentlessly bullied her daughter during life, but they wouldn’t even allow her to rest in peace in death. The photo these girls shared depicted a bloody doll with a noose around its neck.
After Aubreigh’s death, emotions ran high while students donned purple & teal suicide awareness ribbons & colors at an Ocean Springs Greyhounds football game as Heather, Taylor & Ryker came out onto the field while those in attendance honored Aubreigh with a moment of silence. Players attached stickers to the backs of their helmets for the month of September, which just so happended to be suicide awareness month.
Stuffed animals & flowers piled around the middle school sign where Aubreigh had just began 8th grade & students rallied together on campus, carrying signs & protesting to end bullying. Other students began to come forward & share their own experiences of being bullied.
The district’s superintendent indicated that bullying is taken seriously & there are multiple ways in which a student can report bullying, including anonymously on the district’s website. Policies for offenders include punishments from in-school suspensions to expulsion & reports can escalate to include law enforcement.
A memorial service was held for Aubreigh where she attended church at St. Paul United Methodist Church. As tears streamed down Heather’s face during her 13-year-old daughter’s funeral that was packed with Aubreigh’s friends & their parents, she spoke through tears, “My baby, my beautiful, beautiful baby.”
From the start, Heather, Aubreigh’s mom, wanted to get justice for her daughter & make changes to prevent future tragedies. Heather is a single mom & elementary teacher & began to speak out on social media about bullying.
In February 2024, Heather posted a video indicating that the Ocean Springs Police Department & Jackson County Youth Court had each decided not to pursue bullying cases over Aubreigh’s death. They investigated Heather’s claims that her daughter was bullied to death but found the allegations “unsubstantiated.” Ocean Springs investigators found no criminal activity. Out of frustration, she began to post screenshots from her daughter’s Snapchat to support her claims. Heather shared a photo of her daughter with a red cheek that she had sent to her mom while she was in 7th grade after one of the bullies slapped her in the face at school. She also shared screenshots of a Snapchat conversation where one person apologized for hitting Aubreigh & wrote, “i really didn’t mean to hurt you i’m sorry” while Aubreigh went on to apologize for getting the girl in trouble. This girl’s parents have since denied that the slapping incident ever happened.
In April of 2024, eight students walked out of Ocean Springs Middle School where Aubreigh was a student & protested outside the school after one of the girls indicated that she was suspended for defending Aubreigh on Facebook. The girl had apparently said that those who bullied Aubreigh would one day “get a taste of their own medicine.” Heather was alerted to the protest & filmed it on Facebook Live. Several of the students who participated in the protest indicated that they had been on the receiving end of bullies themselves, one to the point that she attempted suicide in sixth grade.
Heather also sought the assistance of Gulfport attorney Trevor Rockstadt to investigate the bullying & the Ocean Springs Police Department obtained Aubreigh’s phone records & began an investigation as well.
In a news release from from Rockstad & his law firm, they wrote:
The plague of bullying & cyberbullying is a very real & present threat to our society, especially to our children & youth. If the perpetrators of this type of senseless & horrific behavior are not held accountable, the plague will continue to devastate our children. Parents, teachers & school systems must be vigilant in preventing bullying. If they are not, they must be held accountable. Similarly, children must be taught that bullying hurts, traumatizes & sometimes even kills its victims. If we do not address this problem now, we risk the safety of all of our children.
A TikTok that Heather posted this June went viral which showed her sorting through Aubreigh’s things as she prepared to move out of the home they lived in at the time of Aubreigh’s death. She found letters addressed to each member of the family that were goodbye notes. The post currently has nearly 60 million views & as people began to share Aubreigh’s tragic story, the hashtag #JusticeforAubreigh spread.
As Aubreigh’s story was shared, it summoned raw emotions from those that have been victims of bullying & family members who have had to watch their children suffer. Heather took to TikTok & her followers began to grow as she spoke of the torment her child was forced to face incessantly by her bullies that included four girls & one boy.
Aubreigh’s name & photo began to spread & the hashtag #LLAW (Live Like Aubreigh Wyatt) started trending. Heather never named the children responsible for her daughter’s relentless bullying on social media, but internet sleuths were able to figure it out & their names went on to be circulated. With this, images of her bullies came out, some going even as far as publicly listing one of the girl’s addresses along with their parents names & where they worked, demanding that they resign. Texts between Heather & Aubreigh detailing the bullying were shared online & in response, the parents of the four girls involved filed a lawsuit against Heather, claiming defamation & slander.
After the July 2, 2024 filing, a judge ruled that Heather must temporarily shut down all of her social media accounts & with this decision, many people on social media were outraged, saying that this violated Heather’s right to free speech. According to Chancery Court Judge Mark Maple, the accounts were shut down in order to protect the minors accused of bullying Aubreigh. Heather’s supporters, including popular TikTokers have posted messages of support, one having more than 11 million views. It was their mission to speak out since Heather was no longer allowed to.
According to Newsweek, the complaint against Heather reads, “As a direct & proximate cause of the false, defamatory & slanderous social media posts of the defendant, Heather Wyatt, the plaintiff’s minor children have been receiving insulting & revolting messages from around the world attacking them, calling them vulgar names, sexualizing them. These young ladies were in the 8th grade!”
On July 16, 2024, the parents dropped the lawsuit & the case was “dismissed without prejudice” which means that the parents can choose to refile in the future. On July 18, Heather’s social media accounts were reinstated.
When March 17, 2024 came, what would have been Aubreigh’s 14th birthday, as expected the day was a challenge for her family. Aubreigh loved birthday parties, the bigger the better, never wanting to leave anyone out. When they celebrated her 13th birthday six months before her death, it was held at the beach & Heather found herself scrambling at the last minute, grabbing more pizzas, chips & drinks. More than 200 people had attended that day. Heather said that her daughter loved big & extravagant so she went on to rent a billboard to wish Aubreigh a happy heavenly birthday, knowing her daughter would have loved that. Her celebration of life on March 17, 2024 was also held at the beach & included cupcakes, balloons & some of Aubreigh’s favorite songs.
Heather returned to work three weeks after Aubreigh’s death since she wanted something to distract her mind. Looking back, she acknowledges that this was a mistake. She was continuously called down to the superintendent’s office after officials learned that she had hired a lawyer. On top of it, the district also rejected multiple requests to honor Aubreigh after the tributes were held immediately following her death. Heather decided to go on leave & then officially resigned from her job on February 15, 2024, a little more than five months after Aubreigh’s death. She currently works in an office, she’s working on getting her master’s degree & she feels a strong sense of relief to be removed from the school district where she felt that she was not supported & disrespected.
Since Aubreigh’s passing, Heather dove headfirst into her mission to raise awareness about both bullying & mental health. In March 2024, attorney Rockstadt filed a lawsuit over Aubreigh’s death against social media companies. The lawsuit claims that Aubreigh was addicted to social media as they are designed to be as she was incessantly pinged with notifications from her accounts that included TikTok, Snapchat & to a lesser extent, Facebook & Instagram. The intended algorithms which the platforms utilize fed Aubreigh a constant stream of content tailored to her interests. According to the lawsuit, this ultimately led to social media compulsion, lack of focus, self-harm, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideations, body dysmorphia, poor sleep & ultimately death by suicide.
Rockstadt filed the lawsuit in Superior Court in Los Angeles County, California. Heather’s case is joined by hundreds of others in what is referred to in legal circles as the “social media youth addiction lawsuits.” The platforms are accused of using “manipulative features” which maximize the time that young people spend on the platforms which then maximize the revenue that those companies collect from advertisements. Heather is suing Meta Platforms Inc which include Facebook & Instagram, Snap Inc which includes Snapchat, ByteDance which includes TikTok & Google & its video sharing platform, YouTube.
The companies have denied any wrongdoings & point out their parental controls indicating that they are in place to protect children. The suit singles out Meta & accuses the company of fraud, fraudulent concealment & conspiracy to commit fraud. Facebook & Instagram are accused of convincing parents that their platforms are a safe space for children. According to the lawsuit, had Heather Wyatt known how harmful the social media platforms were, she would never have allowed her daughter to utilize them. The platforms are particularly harmful to girls due to the depiction of unrealistic beauty & body-image standards.
It is Heather Wyatt’s goal for her own daughter’s death to mean something & is fighting to help end bullying in school & outside of school both online & in person. She wants to assist children & parents who are dealing with bullies to thrive & get assistance if they find themselves falling into despair. It is Heather’s promise to make sure that another child does not have to suffer the pain that Aubreigh endured, saying, “ We are going to make waves. We are going to move mountains.”
Heather is leveraging her following to raise money for her newly formed Aubreigh Wyatt Foundation which is devoted to bringing awareness & attention to teen suicide, bullying & mental health. Aubreigh’s case has impacted so many people since she was a beloved girl-next-door & no one could wrap their head around what went wrong. She stresses the fact that it’s so important to check in on everyone & not only the kid who is sitting alone at the lunch table.
The Wyatt family created a GoFundMe campaign to help cover legal fees & of the $100,000 goal, over $120,000 has been raised thus far. Heather has been using her platform to advocate for mental health & on July 11, 2024, she updated the page, encouraging people to make donations to local therapists & counselors to cover the cost of families that may not be able to afford professional help, to check in with local crisis centers who may need assistance & to share available resources on social media to remind people that there are options available & people who are there to help.
Each Sunday after church, the family of three visits Aubreigh’s grave which they decorate for each season. Heather posted a gut wrenching video to TikTok of Ryker bringing Aubreigh a Valentine’s Day bouquet as the 13-year-old sat at her desk in her bedroom, the next clip showed Ryker bringing a bouquet to her grave one year later with the caption, “Rest in peace, my beautiful. You deserved the world but the world didn’t deserve you.”
There is no way to address every form of bullying in school since technology is so widespread & an abundance of bullying incidents happen privately on smartphones, away from the watchful eyes of adults which makes it that much more difficult to identify. Bullying can be stopped & by learning better social-emotional skills & norms, students are far kinder to one another. Bullying can come in many forms; it can be physical which includes damaging or stealing property, it can be verbal which includes name calling & teasing, it can be social which is harder to spot & its main focus is to cause humiliation & there is also cyber bullying which is the newest form & can be both private or public, involving texting, social media & email.
Modeling behavior is one of the best ways to prevent bullying; when an adult models kindness, compassion & empathy, it teaches young people what is expected of them.
It’s important to teach children to speak up when they or someone they know is being bullied. Children might see this as tattling which can cause their own social reputation harm, but it is important to encourage children to go to an adult with concerns, no matter how others may perceive them. Each age group requires a different focus; middle & high school age children are more prone to cyberbullying.
World Suicide Prevention Day was launched in 2003 in Stolkholm & is a designated day to focus attention on the problem world-wide to spread the message that suicide can be prevented. This year, World Suicide Prevention Day is on Tuesday, September 10. It aims to put the issue on the agenda both globally & regionally, but also seeks to show that action must be taken locally. In the United States, suicide is the second-leading cause of death among teens with accidental deaths being the leading cause. It is all of our responsibility to help save lives that could be at stake. A yellow & orange ribbon is used to signify the day.
If you are struggling, 24/7 help is available. Please call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
References:
- SunHerald: Bullied for years, a Mississippi 8th grader took her own life. Her family wants justice.
- SunHerald: Is social media to blame for Aubreigh Wyatt’s death? What MS Coast mom’s lawsuit says
- SunHerald: Student’s death resurfaces painful memories of longtime bullying at Ocean Springs schools
- SunHerald: Mom’s new mission honors Aubreigh Wyatt after MS Coast teen died by suicide over bullying
- Vicksburg News: The death of Aubreigh Wyatt
- People: Everything to know about Aubreigh Wyatt’s death & her mom’s fight to tell her story on TikTok
- Gofundme: Family of Aubreigh Wyatt (Wyatt Family): Legal fees
- SunHerald: Aubreigh Wyatt’s death by suicide in MS strikes a national chord. A full recap of events
- Rachel’s Challenge: How to effectively stop bullying in schools
- International Association for Suicide Prevention: World Suicide Prevention Day September 10
- PRB: Suicide replaces homicide as second-leading cause of death among U.S. teenagers
