A judge has ordered a Mississippi mother to shut down her social media accounts. The woman says her daughter was bullied to death is no longer allowed to talk about the TikTok tragedy to her followers. The small-town events exploded online with millions of onlookers.

Heather Wyatt talked about her daughter being bullied after she found Ashleigh dead in her room on Labor Day. She shifted her focus to mental health and grief and stopped talking online about bullying.

She has two children, 16-year-old Taylor and 6-year-old Ryker who are still coming to terms with their sister’s death.

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 TikTok Tragedy

In September 2023, Aubreigh Wyatt, a 13-year-old girl from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, took her own life. Heather Wyatt alleges that her daughter's suicide was the result of relentless bullying. 

The devastated mother turned to TikTok to share her daughter’s story, quickly amassing hundreds of thousands of followers. Heather claimed that Aubreigh had been bullied both online and offline by her schoolmates in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

Heather did not publicly name the four teens she accused of bullying her daughter. However, their identities were soon revealed by followers in the comments and other social media posts.

This led to a surge of harassment and threats directed at the teens and their families. This online campaign of intimidation prompted the families of the accused teens to file a defamation and slander lawsuit against Heather.

The Defamation Lawsuit

The defamation lawsuit, filed on July 2, claims that Wyatt’s TikTok videos incited her followers to uncover and publicize the identities of the accused teens. This occurred even though investigations by local police and youth court found no evidence linking the teens to Aubreigh’s death.

Although Wyatt and her attorney have declined to comment on the ongoing case, she has stated in her TikTok videos that her primary goal is to raise awareness about teen mental health issues. 

The plaintiffs accuse her of exploiting the tragedy for social media fame and financial gain.

On July 1, a judge in Jackson County Chancery Court issued an emergency injunction requiring Heather Wyatt to temporarily deactivate her TikTok, Facebook, and other social media accounts. 

The court's decision was an attempt to protect the minors involved in the case. Despite the court's efforts to seal all records, the order was leaked and quickly circulated online. 

Supporters of Wyatt expressed their outrage through TikTok videos, protesting her “silencing,” with some videos garnering hundreds of thousands of views.

The court is scheduled to review the injunction in a hearing next week, but this is only one aspect of the ongoing legal battles. 

GoFundMe Campaign

In one of her emotional TikTok videos, the grieving mother shared the heartbreaking moment she discovered her daughter’s suicide notes months after her death. She was in her daughter’s room recording herself go through her belongings before packing them up. She didn't know what she would find.

The video, like many others with hashtags such as #LLAW (Live like Aubreigh Wyatt), has amassed millions of likes and tens of millions of views.

Heather Wyatt has since launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover her legal expenses, raising over $100,000 from nearly 4,000 donors. 

Although Wyatt and her attorney have declined to comment on the ongoing case, she has stated in her TikTok videos that her primary goal is to raise awareness about teen mental health issues. 

The plaintiffs accuse her of exploiting the TikTok tragedy for social media fame and financial gain.

Attorney Patrick Guild, representing the plaintiffs, expressed his disappointment over the leak of the judge’s confidential order.

“What has happened as a result of that is that a lot of different theories, and I’ll say, false information has come out” regarding the reasons for the order, Guild stated. 

He emphasized that the bullying accusations against his clients are “patently false” and have been magnified due to Heather Wyatt’s large following. Consequently, his clients have faced significant threats that pose real concerns for their safety.

Mental Health Issues

The unfolding events of the TikTok Tragedy serve as a stark reminder of the powerful and often perilous impact of social media. The case has drawn national attention. 

 The narrative pits a grieving mother's right to speak out against the privacy and safety concerns of the teenagers she holds responsible for her daughter’s death.

 “I think bullying is a subject that needs to be addressed, but I don’t want to create hate for anyone, so I chose to only focus on the mental health aspect of it,” said Wyatt.

 She is a former Ocean Springs teacher who resigned months after Aubreigh’s death. “I felt like that would be helpful and it would also not cause any animosity or any conflict to any other individuals.”

If you or someone you know needs help, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or go online to visit 988lifeline.org.