Dark side of TikTok fame as Ava Majury, 15, and Bryce Hall targeted by ‘stalkers’ and kids are preyed on by pedophiles
TIKTOK star Ava Majury shocked her fans this week by revealing her dad had shot dead her alleged stalker. The now 15-year-old said her father Rob Majury, 51, gunned down Eric Rohan Justin, 18, after the teen had traveled miles to reach her in Florida. But Ava’s shocking admission is not the first time influencers have […]
TIKTOK star Ava Majury shocked her fans this week by revealing her dad had shot dead her alleged stalker.
The now 15-year-old said her father Rob Majury, 51, gunned down Eric Rohan Justin, 18, after the teen had traveled miles to reach her in Florida.
But Ava’s shocking admission is not the first time influencers have spoken out about alleged stalking at the hands of obsessed fans online.
In fact, it has shone a further light on the dark underbelly of online fame and the dangers it can bring after the death of Instagram star Miss Mercedes Morr in September last year.
Model and influencer Morr, whose real name was Jenae Gagnier, 33, was found dead in her Texas home next to the body of Kevin Alexander Accorto, 34, from Florida.
In an Instagram post her sister said Accorto had been stalking her.
And her devastated dad Mark said he had warned his daughter about stalkers, saying he was always scared of her large online following.
“It scared the hell out of me,” he told KTRK-TV.
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On TikTok, influencer Bryce Hall said in December last year he was forced to deal with a man he accused of being a stalker at his home.
Hall shared footage online, writing: “Video footage of me hearing something downstairs and finding out it’s the same stalker that walked into my house earlier this year.”
He tweeted in June last year: “to the people that sit outside my house and record me when I leave, break onto my property, and runaway when caught please stop lmao.”
The man, later identified by police as Joshua Shakill, was arrested at the time on suspicion of burglary.
It is not clear where that case stands. The Sun has contacted LAPD for more.
‘MAGNET FOR PEDOPHILES’
The Pew Research Center found in February last year that “social media sites are the most common place Americans encounter harassment online.”
Former British government adviser on online child safety John Carr told The Sun in February 2020 that TikTok was a “magnet for pedophiles.”
A Sun investigation that same year found that kids as young as eight were being groomed and bombarded with sickening messages.
And in 2020 James Anthony Gonzales was jailed for 11 years for lewd acts after a nine-year-old’s mother reported him to police, NBC reports.
The mom is said to have found messages between her daughter and Gonzales on TikTok.
CELEB STALKERS
Celebrities including Taylor Sift, Kendall Jenner and Lana Del Rey have all also been victims of stalkers and targeted online.
But it’s not just models and singers who become targets as a result of their huge online following.
In August Olympic runner Emily Infeld spoke candidly about her struggle with an online stalker.
She described how she had been targeted for three years, ruining her career and leaving her terrified.
Teenager Ava Rose Beaune – who had millions of followers on TikTok – told Vice how she was forced to move away from her home after her accounts were hacked by a stalker.
Ava said: “It was stuff about how he wants to rape me, how he’s going to get me, how I can easily stop this.
“It’s really affected me, like, you know, just like not being able to live in your own home, and like, even when you are at home, not being safe.
“It’s really hard, especially when I was only 16 when this happened.”
She has since stopped using TikTok.
‘NOBODY LISTENS TO US’
Former teen Jeopardy! winner Claire Sattler also told her fans she had been stalked and bullied online in wake of her victory.
And in June TikTok star and model Gustė Janušauskaitė, who is based in the US, detailed how she saw her stalker outside her apartment window in a series of terrifying posts.
She said: “I’m watching him watching me.
“This is literally how women die, because nobody listens to us, and we are constantly in danger.”
Ava Majury told the New York Times that Justin, who used the platform under the username EricJustin111, first came to Ava’s attention in early 2020 as he commented on her videos.
The 18-year-old from Maryland would reportedly text and call her, and even allegedly did a classmates’ math homework for more information on Ava, her family claims.
Ava claims she blocked him on all accounts but he begged her to unblock him, sending her hundreds of dollars as he did so.
Rob Majury told the Times that he then intervened to text Justin and say that Ava is a minor and to stop contact with his daughter.
ARMED WITH A SHOTGUN
Justin arrived at the Majury home in Naples, Florida, early in the morning of July 10, 2021, with a shotgun, according to Naples News.
He reportedly blew through the front door but his weapon jammed, allowing Rob, a retired police lieutenant, to start to chase him off.
Ava’s bedroom was reportedly just inside of the door Justin shot open and she fled through a shared bathroom into her older brother’s room.
Ava’s mom Kim, 45, ran to help her dad while calling 911.
Rob reportedly told Collier County sheriff’s officers that after initially chasing Justin off, he went back into the house to get his handgun and then stood guard at the door.
Justin did return a short time later and Rob claims that he told him to drop the shotgun.
When Justin allegedly refused, he shot him.
The 18-year-old had two cellphones containing thousands of photographs of Ava and hundreds of hours of her videos when he was shot, police said.
Ava Majury’s mom Kimberly told GMA: “I actually thought my daughter was dead. He was just standing there, looking at us for a few minutes.”
Her dad Rob added: ” I had to do what I had to do to protect my family and I made sure of it.”
The family also defended selling her selfies to Justin.
Ava added: “After talking to both my parents, I thought it would be mutual if I got in contact with him directly.
“I said, “hey, can you stop going through my friends and stop contacting people for information about me just come straight to me and you can purchase it all from me.'”
TIKTOK STATEMENT
At the time, local media reports did not name the parties involved and said it was a shooting from a home invasion.
“The subject was most likely a stalker that resulted from her daughter’s extensive social media involvement,” the Collier County Sheriff’s Office report also read.
“Since her daughter’s involvement with social media, multiple subjects have attempted to ascertain her family’s address in the past.”
Rob Majury will reportedly not face any charges for the shooting under Florida’s “stand your ground” law.
He has still sought legal advice to protect himself and brought in legal help to manage Ava’s business.
The Sun has contacted Instagram and TikTok for comment.
TikTok told the Times in a statement that it is “deeply invested in the safety and well-being of our community.’’
The shooting investigation reportedly remains ongoing.
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