Michigan boy, 11, hangs himself after social media prank

This undated family photo provided by Katrina Gross shows her son Tysen Benz. Benz, an 11-year-old Michigan boy hanged himself in his room after seeing social media posts indicating that his girlfriend had committed suicide. The posts turned out to be a prank. Now the boy's mother, Katrina Goss, says school officials should have done more to prevent his death. Goss says the girlfriend attended the same school as Tysen. He died Tuesday, April 4, 2017, at a Detroit hospital. (Katrina Gross via AP) This undated family photo provided by Katrina Gross shows her son Tysen Benz. Benz, an 11-year-old Michigan boy hanged himself in his room after seeing social media posts indicating that his girlfriend had committed suicide. The posts turned out to be a prank. Now the boy's mother, Katrina Goss, says school officials should have done more to prevent his death. Goss says the girlfriend attended the same school as Tysen. He died Tuesday, April 4, 2017, at a Detroit hospital. (Katrina Gross via AP)

By Associated Press April 7, 2017 3 min read

DETROIT (AP) – Tysen Benz was at home when he saw social media posts indicating that his 13-year-old girlfriend had committed suicide. The posts were a prank, but the 11-year-old boy apparently believed them.

Moments later, his mother found him hanging by the neck in his room in Marquette, Michigan. Now a prosecutor is pursuing criminal charges against a juvenile accused of being involved in the scheme, which Katrina Goss described as “a twisted, sick joke.”

Goss described her son as appearing “fine” just 40 minutes before she found him.

“I just want it be exposed and be addressed,” Goss said of school bullying in general and cyberbullying in particular. “I don’t want it be ignored.”

Using a cellphone he bought without his mother’s knowledge, Tysen on March 14 was reading texts and other messages about the faked suicide and decided he would end his life too, his mother said.