Social Media 'Blackout Challenge' Suspected In Murrieta Boy's Death

MURRIETA, CA — A young Murrieta boy died in early February after taking part in a dangerous social media challenge, his family suspects. Nnamdi Glenn Ohaeri Jr. was buried on Valentine's Day, with a celebration of life two days later at a local football field.

It was a fitting spot to remember for the 13-year-old who loved football.

"The overwhelming support provided to us from our circle of friends, our family members, the entire community was and still is beautiful," his mother wrote in a GoFundMe message. "Although we wish the circumstances were different, it has been comforting to receive support, messages of love, and the willingness from those closest to us and from those we don't know to provide us an unrelenting helping hand."

As his family opens up about their tragic loss, the community of Murrieta is supporting the family with a GoFundMe fundraiser established by a family friend. It that has raised $75,000.

"We don't know how this works or how long to keep the fundraiser going, but we are taking a sabbatical from work to pour into the kids and recalibrate our new way forward," the family wrote on the GoFundMe page.

His father, Nnamdi Ohaeri, spoke recently to NBC4 about what happened in the wake of his 13-year-old son's death on the day of the Grammy's. The next morning, his son was found unconscious and unresponsive in his bedroom.

The family performed CPR and contacted the police for help, but the boy was later pronounced dead, according to reports. Initial reports indicated the child had taken his own life. However, after research, the parents learned of a social media game where children "were making themselves pass out."

According to the interview, the child had no social media accounts, so his parents could only guess he may have learned about it at school or elsewhere.

The TikTok 'Blackout Challenge' has been the source of numerous deaths across the country, typically in young children, including a 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl, a 12-year-old Colorado boy, and a 13-year-old Massachusetts boy, all in 2021.

They hope that sharing what happened to their son will make other families aware of such dangerous games.

"We need to be mindful of the influencers," he said. "We don't talk about social media trends or playing social media games, but maybe we need to."

Read the full story by journalists Shelby Nelson and Vivian Chow on KTLA.

To support the family, go to their GoFundMe page.

What Is The Challenge?

The challenge asks people, primarily children, to intentionally choke themselves or others in an attempt to feel a lightheaded euphoria without having to buy alcohol or drugs, according to Time magazine.

The game has been around since the 1990s, and awareness was primarily spread through word of mouth. It gained traction online in recent years due to the accessibility of social media, where it spreads more easily.

Have People Died From It?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention commissioned a report on the game and found that from 1995 to 2007, 82 people died in the United States because of it. Most of the victims were boys between 11 and 16.