USA — The family of a nine-year-old kid discovered dead in his bedroom last week has blamed a supposed TikTok strangulation challenge.
LaTerius Smith Jr. died on Jun 10 in Memphis, Tennessee, according to his obituary. He was also known as “TJ” by his family, would have turned ten years old at the end of this month.
“To see that baby laying in that casket hasn’t even had an opportunity to grow up,” LaTerius’ great-great-aunt Barbara Williams told Memphis’ WERG. “You know, his life has ended because of some people putting stupid things on various sites,” she stated.
According to WREG, close relatives found LaTerius unconscious in his bedroom with a belt around his neck. The small kid was immediately taken to a nearby hospital, but he died as a result of his injuries.
“It wasn’t until later on that we found out there was some type of video on TikTok, you know, letting kids know … how to strangle yourself,” Williams told the publication. “But you got to get out of it, the challenge was to get out of it. But he’s nine years old, he’s nine years old, so how was he going to get out of it?”
Over the previous few years, hazardous developments such as the “pass out challenge” have propagated across social media platforms. The challenges urge participants to choke themselves until they pass out for several seconds, in order to induce a high.
In January, a 10-year-old Italian girl died by accident while taking part in the “blackout” challenge. A 13-year-old girl was hospitalised in Oregon in May with serious third-degree burns to her body, which her family believes were caused by recreating a TikTok using rubbing alcohol and a lighter, according to ABC News.
A TikTok spokesperson did not immediately reply to Insider’s request for comment. The TikTok community standards forbid “content that depicts, promotes, normalizes, or glorifies such behaviour, including amateur stunts or dangerous challenges.”
The family of LaTerius notified WREG that they wanted to encourage other parents and families to watch their children’s social media usage, block sites when necessary, and educate themselves on what their children are exposed to online.
“I know you can’t watch them 24 hours, but that in which you can do, you just have to save a life,” Williams said to WREG.
/TISG