Boy hangs himself after girlfriend fakes suicide in social media prank
An 11-year-old boy hanged himself after his girlfriend faked her own suicide on social media.
Tysen Benz had received text messages and updates on social media saying that his 13-year-old girlfriend had killed herself, according to his mother, Katrina Goss, who found her son hanged in his room. According to Goss, the whole thing took place in about 40 minutes’ time, and they later found out that Tysen’s girlfriend was in fact still alive.
“She had pranked her own death,” Goss told the Associated Press. “I don’t know what possessed her to do such a weird prank. It’s a twisted, sick joke.”
— Teen’s mother allegedly encouraged her suicide on Facebook Live —
Tysen was on life support until Tuesday before he died, and Goss set up a GoFundMe page in order to pay for his medical costs. On the page, Goss insisted that it was the prank that had caused her son to take his own life.
The prank itself was organized by the girl and some friends, and while a juvenile has been charged in relation to the matter, the identity of the juvenile was not released because of the age of the person involved. The charges included malicious use of telecommunication services and using a computer to commit a crime, according to WNMU-FM.
