Grieving Mississippi mother who claims her teen was bullied before killing herself is sued by her daughter's classmates after her TikToks calling them out went viral

A mother who claims her 13-year-old daughter was bullied to death has been sued and ordered to take down her TikTok.

Aubreigh Wyatt hanged herself in her bedroom in Ocean Springs, near Biloxi, Mississippi, on September 4, 2023.

Her mother Heather Wyatt claimed the eighth-grader was bullied for years by four classmates at Ocean Springs Middle School, which drove her to suicide.

Wyatt claimed the abuse was both on social media like Snapchat as well as offline, at least once escalating to physical violence, but never named the bullies.

Aubreigh Wyatt hanged herself in her bedroom in Ocean Springs, near Biloxi, Mississippi, on September 4, 2023, and her mother Heather Wyatt claimed she was bullied to death by four classmates

'Aubreigh would be friends with them for a week, then they would fight for a week,' she said in one of many videos posted on her TikTok.

'It was just this big social isolation... Aubreigh was way too forgiving.'

But now Wyatt is being sued by the four alleged bullies and their parents who claimed a mob of her TikTok followers were harassing and defaming them.

A judge ordered her to take down her TikTok, which reached almost a million followers after one heartbreaking video went viral, to protect the teenagers and their families from vigilantes. 

Mom finds Aubreigh dead in her room

Aubreigh appeared to be a popular middle school student, surrounded by friends and smiling in social media posts.

But her mother said there was a group, led by four girls, who bullied her at school, at social events, and online since she was in fifth grade.

Wyatt's lawyer, Trevor Rockstad of Davis & Crump law firm, said Aubreigh was called hateful, untrue names and false rumors spread about her.

Taunting was so pervasive that it continued unabated even after Wyatt complained to the school district and tried to intervene.

Wyatt described in a haunting video how she and her older daughter Taylor found Aubreigh's body in her room on Labor Day.

'I wanted to get it off of her neck, so I'm screaming at Taylor to get a knife and she runs in there and I'm holding Aubreigh's body up... while Taylor cuts and cuts at the rope until it releases,' she said.

Wyatt claimed the abuse was both on social media like Snapchat as well as offline, at least once escalating to physical violence, but never named the bullies

'I immediately take Aubreigh's body, that I'm holding and I lay it on her bed and I immediately start CPR and I am screaming, begging god to let her live. 

'While that is going on is when Taylor is calling 911 and everybody else. It was a lot, I didn't want to face it, I just laid with her, the police came, everybody came.

'That is how we found Aubreigh, she had taken her life by hanging, in her room. People in our city knew about it within two days.'

There was an outpouring of grief across the school and the town, and a moment of silence was observed at the school's next football game with Wyatt and her two remaining children on the field.

Stuffed animals and bouquets of flowers were piled at the school's gate and students held protests demanding an end to bullying.

Aubreigh's following builds

Police began to investigate Aubreigh's death and the bullying allegations, which dragged on into the new year.

Once it was over, Ocean Springs Police Chief Ryan Lemaire said all evidence was turned over to the local Youth Court, which decided not to press any charges.

Wyatt instead sued social media companies including Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and Snap Inc, which owns Snapchat.

Her lawsuit accused them of preying on teenagers with addictive apps and failing to safeguard them against cyberbullying.

Police began to investigate Aubreigh's death and the bullying allegations, which dragged on into the new year

With the police case done, Wyatt quit her job at another elementary school and began to post more about the bullying, including sharing messages from the alleged bullies to her daughter.

One was a photo of Aubreigh's face with a red cheek she claimed was the result of one of the girls slapping her the year before when she was in seventh grade.

There were also redacted Snapchat messages of the girl apologizing to her, saying 'i really didn't mean to hurt you i'm sorry'.

Aubreigh replied 'i'm sorry you got in trouble' but asked 'could you please stop talking about me to people... i'm rlly over it'.

The girl's parents have since denied she slapped Aubreigh.

Another post included a photo Taylor was allegedly sent by the bullies after her sister's death, showing a bloody doll with a noose around its neck.

The girls' parents said the photo was taken months before Aubreigh's death and wasn't designed to mock her.

One was a photo of Aubreigh's face with a red cheek she claimed was the result of one of the girls slapping her the year before when she was in seventh grade

There were also redacted Snapchat messages of the girl apologizing to her, saying 'i really didn't mean to hurt you i'm sorry'

Army of trolls goes after the 'bullies' 

Wyatt steadily attracted a social media following with regular posts and videos memorializing her daughter and talking about the bullying.

Her family tried to move on with their lives and her posts shifted towards advocating teenage mental health. 

Then last month she posted a video of herself discovering notes Aubreigh left for her family that went unnoticed for almost a year.

The notes were addressed to Heather, Taylor, her little brother Ryker, Heather's brother Jeff Wyatt, and one for the family collectively.

Wyatt's raw grief at discovering the notes as she filmed herself combing through a box of Aubreigh's things while moving house was watched 40 million times.

But the video going viral and boosting Wyatt's TikTok fans above 900,000 created an army of obsessive followers hellbent on justice.

Wyatt's family tried to move on with their lives and her posts shifted towards advocating teenage mental health. This photo shows them celebrating Easter at Aubreigh's grave

Despite Wyatt never directly identifying the alleged bullies, there were enough breadcrumbs for them to follow.

Within days, the identities of all four girls and their families were splashed across social media along with abusive messages targeting them.

'We will turn your world upside down, burn it down and make your life a living hell,' one post on a Facebook group read.

Threats were sent to the girls and their families, one of their addresses posted, and a petition to fire one of their fathers from his school district position amassed more than 200,000 signatures.

'Instead of taking action he ignored the problem and let it continue this man needs to have his power taken away!' the petition read, in part.

The vast majority of the mob that formed online had nothing to do with Aubreigh or her family, and were not among the town's about 20,000 locals.

Wyatt is gagged by the court 

Faced with an avalanche of abuse from around the US and beyond, the parents of the four girls demanded an injunction against Wyatt.

Jackson County Chancery Court Judge Mark Maples on July 1 ordered Wyatt to temporarily take down her TikTok and cease posting about the case on social media.

The emergency injunction was sealed but quickly leaked online where it was widely shared.

The court order was 'after considering [the arguments] and erring on the side of caution to protect the minor children involved in the case', it explained.

Wyatt complied with the order, leaving her Instagram up with all relevant posts removed, and created a new TikTok to explain the situation.

Jackson County Chancery Court Judge Mark Maples on July 1 ordered Wyatt to temporarily take down her TikTok and cease posting about the case on social media

'My primary Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok accounts had to be deleted due to the large amount of attention they received,' she wrote.

'At this time, however, I am not permitted to discuss anything that pertains to the Aubs' case.'

Other posts stressed the situation was temporary, thanked her followers for their support, and encouraged them to write to the Mississippi governor and 'reach whoever you can to make this right'.

Wyatt's followers reacted with fury and declared 'she can't but I can'.

'Her family deserves justice that they didn't receive and still have not received. spread awareness share and repost this just to spread some awareness and bring some light to this horrible story,' one wrote.

'This family can't even have closure because even in death her baby is still being bullied and the legal system is just a joke at this point.'

Another added: 'They have told this woman that she can not SPEAK for her child. What cold injustice is that? 

'She has already lost the life of her baby, a life she GAVE life too- and now they want to tell her she is no longer allowed to fight for her baby. 

'When does a mother, or a father, ever stop fighting for their child. Ever stop SPEAKING for their child.'

Maples will hold another hearing on July 18 to decide if the order should stay in place. 

Wyatt steadily attracted a social media following with regular posts and videos memorializing her daughter and talking about the bullying

Wyatt in an older family photo with Aubreigh, her older sister Taylor, and little brother Ryker

'Bullies' parents take legal action

A day after the injunction was ordered, the parents of the four girls sued Wyatt for defamation, claiming her posts exposed them to terrifying threats.

'The plaintiff minor children have had to live in daily fear that something may happen to any of them, their family, or their friends,' it read.

The complaint accused Wyatt of committing slander, defamation, and negligence against the girls with malice by falsely calling them bullies.

They claimed Aubreigh wasn't bullied and took her own life for other reasons, noting she was on antidepressants and 'had previously attempted suicide and did not receive the proper medical attention'.

The lawsuit claimed the girls 'have been receiving insulting and revolting messages from around the world attacking them, calling them vulgar names, sexualizing them, etc.

'These young ladies WERE IN THE 8TH GRADE!!'

The parents' lawyers claimed the abuse was 'a direct and proximate cause of the false, defamatory and slanderous social media posts of the defendant, Heather Wyatt'.

Wyatt maintains her posts were to raise awareness of teenage mental health struggles, and claimed to have prevented numerous youth suicides.

Wyatt was allowed to leave a GoFundMe page online so long as it didn't discuss the case, and it has raised more than $105,000 from 4,000 donors, to pay her legal fees

Wyatt claimed the eighth-grader was bullied for years by four classmates at Ocean Springs Middle School (pictured), which drove her to suicide

But the parents claimed in their lawsuit she was just trying to drum up 'notoriety, clicks and money' as the revenue from her social media accounts was determined by how many followers, views, and comments she got.

The lawsuit claimed Wyatt was told by police in February that her claims that Aubreigh was bullied were 'unsubstantiated', but continued to insist she was - and even complained she couldn't get 'justice'.

Despite not naming the girls, Wyatt said anyone who wanted to know could ask her daughter, the lawsuit claimed.

The lawsuit demanded damages to pay for therapy and other medical bills for the girls to deal with the emotional distress the abuse caused them, along with punitive damages and legal fees.

Wyatt was allowed to leave a GoFundMe page online so long as it didn't discuss the case, and it has raised more than $105,000 from 4,000 donors, to pay her legal fees.