Aubreigh Wyatt’s mom sued, accused of slandering South MS teens over daughter’s suicide

Ocean Springs mom Heather Wyatt took to social media and falsely accused four girls of bullying her daughter, 13-year-old Aubreigh Wyatt, into death by suicide, exposing them and their families to terrifying threats from around the world, a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Jackson County Circuit Court says.

The lawsuit accuses Wyatt of acting with malice to commit slander, defamation and negligence against the girls. Four sets of parents have filed the lawsuit on behalf of their daughters. They are seeking unspecified damages to compensate them for the girls’ therapy and any other medical bills caused by the emotional distress they’re suffering, the lawsuit says. The lawsuits also are asking for punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.

The Sun Herald is not naming the parents to protect the identities of the minor girls. However, the girls have been named on social media, where details such as the home address of at least one girl have been posted. Aubreigh was a student at Ocean Springs Middle School when her mother found her dead by suicide on Labor Day in Aubreigh’s bedroom.

The lawsuit says Aubreigh died for other reasons, noting that she was on antidepressants, “had previously attempted suicide and did not receive the proper medical attention . . .”

After Aubreigh’s death, Heather Wyatt poured out her grief on social media, including Facebook and TikTok. Another judge apparently ordered her Monday afternoon to shut down the social media accounts. Her TikTok videos have attracted millions of views and thousands of comments and followers.

They’ve also led to the creation of other accounts whose owners are hard to identify. Those accounts have used photos and video clips from Wyatt’s account to blame Aubreigh’s death on bullying and call for action, sometimes prompting crude comments about the alleged bullies.

The lawsuit says: “As a direct and proximate cause of the false, defamatory and slanderous social media posts of the defendant, Heather Wyatt, the plaintiffs’ minor children 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!!”

Heather Wyatt accused of false social media statements

Heather Wyatt, who resigned her elementary school position months after Aubreigh’s death, has said she was using social media to raise awareness of suicide and mental health. She told the Sun Herald that thousands of people have emailed to say she convinced them not to end their lives.

She told the Sun Herald that she has not talked recently on social media about Aubreigh being bullied because she does not want to “create hate for anyone.” Wyatt could not be reached for comment after the Circuit Court lawsuit was filed Tuesday.

The parents suing her claim she’s making false statements about their daughters for notoriety, clicks and money. They say the revenue that she generates depends on the number of subscribers, likes and views her social media posts receive.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit says, their daughters are suffering. “The plaintiff minor children have had to live in daily fear that something may happen to any of them, their family, or their friends,” says the lawsuit, filed by attorneys Patrick Guild and Tim Holleman of Boyce Holleman & Associates in Gulfport.

Investigators with the Ocean Springs Police Department and Jackson County Youth Court have investigated Wyatt’s claims that her daughter was bullied to death but found the allegations “unsubstantiated,” the lawsuit says. The case will also be presented to a county grand jury, which is common for the unnatural death of a young person.

Ocean Springs investigators found no criminal activity

Although authorities informed Wyatt that the allegations against the girls were unsubstantiated, the lawsuit says, she kept spreading false information. After talking with authorities in February, the lawsuit says, Wyatt posted a TikTok video that expressed how upset she was about being unable to get “justice.”

She said evidence could be shared, but she would cross out the names of the girls involved, adding, “ . . . . however, the whole city knows who these kids are . . . “ While she wouldn’t post their names on social media, the lawsuit says, she said that people could ask her daughter who the girls were.

Wyatt also accused one of the girls who filed the lawsuit of slapping Aubreigh, which the lawsuit calls “patently false.”

Also in February, the lawsuit says, Wyatt posted a TikTok video and, without naming the four girls, accused them of posting a picture on Snapchat to “mock” Aubreigh’s death. Wyatt knew, or should have known, that the picture was taken months before Aubreigh died without any intention of mocking her, the lawsuit says.

A Facebook group called Ocean Springs Talk of the Town has featured a number of posts about Aubreigh’s death, none of them by Heather Wyatt, but the lawsuit mentions some of the disturbing comments under those posts. One commenter wrote, “We will turn your world upside down, burn it down and make your life a living hell.”

The ominous group of online digital activists known as Anonymous has even weighed in, the lawsuit says. Anonymous directed threats to one of the four girls and her parents, saying, in part, “Anonymous will launch a significant operation and you should prepare for numerous cyberattacks.

“Justice for Aubreigh must be served and those responsible, including M. (the girl) and her parents, will be held accountable.”