Woodbridge Teen Killed After Dispute That Started On TikTok, Best Friend Says

WOODBRIDGE, NJ —A dispute between teenage boys that started on TikTok ended with a young man shot to death on an early summer evening on the Jersey Shore, sources say.

Chrystofer Whyte, 18, a recent Woodbridge High School graduate, was fatally gunned down on the beach in Long Branch last Thursday, because of a feud that may have started on TikTok.

This is according to Whyte's best friend, Jaiden Roche, 19, who said he shared all this information with law enforcement and has been communicating with detectives from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's office.

"They're on the right track," as far as talking to suspects, Roche told Patch Wednesday, a week after the shooting. He said the boys Whyte was arguing with online were fellow teenagers from Linden.

A spokesman for the county prosecutor declined to release any new updates on the murder case.

Roche is the one who started this GoFundMe for expenses connected to his friend's funeral. As of Wednesday, Whyte has not been buried yet. "I think his mom is still in shock," he said.

Like Whyte, Roche also graduated from Woodbridge High School last spring, class of 2024. Roche played basketball, while Whyte was a standout on the Barrons football team, and also on the varsity wrestling team. His former coach praised him Tuesday as "a fighter, hard-working and respectful. An unbelievable kid who brought a lot of energy." After graduation, Whyte relocated to North Brunswick with his mother, and that's where he was living at the time of his death.

While Whyte was also working at the U.S. Postal Service to help pay the bills, he was trying to make a living full time as a TikTok influencer, said his friend.

"He was doing TikTok full time and he was making a good living with it, too," said Roche. "He was able to take trips, go out and buy a car, all from what TikTok paid him."

Whyte's TikTok page, hi.imchrys, had 98,000 followers. His photos and videos received a total of 7.7 million likes. Through something called the TikTok Creator Fund, TikTok will pay users directly if videos they post generate a certain number of views, usually two to four cents for every 1,000 views. TikTok influencers also make money by selling subscriptions to their pages, selling shout-outs or product mentions, and partnering with advertisers, although it's unknown if Whyte was doing all of that.

Handsome and smiling, Whyte often posted videos of himself shirtless. He shared photos of himself with motivational messages, or making funny observations about women and dating. There are many comments from young women on his profile, asking why he hasn't responded to their messages.

It was on one of those videos that other young men, fellow teenagers not yet 20 years old, started "antagonizing" him, said Roche.

"It was one of his TikTok Live videos a couple months ago," said Roche. "Some of these kids —they're from Linden — started calling him names in the comments during a TikTok Live video. I think this whole situation was about egos, back and forth online. Chrys is a very humble person, but the one thing he doesn't tolerate is disrespect."

On June 12, Whyte posted what would be his final video to his profile. It was him sitting on the beach; he had driven down there with a group of friends that included Whyte's older brother. Roche was supposed to go that day, but "my license is suspended for speeding." He stayed home.

"It was just to have a good day at the beach with his friends. Long Branch is known as the place to go," said Roche.

Whyte captioned the video #fyp (For You Page, which is a hashtag that gets videos seen more widely) and #longbranch.

That's how the young men knew where to find him.

"They saw his TikTok post and they ended up coming to the beach. They came to the beach knowing they would start problems," said Roche. "He had told these kids, let's fight. I guess these kids had something more than a fight in mind."

It was 8:58 p.m. last Thursday and an outdoor music concert was just wrapping up at Pier Village, which was extremely crowded that night, with groups of young people in their 20s spilling over onto the beach. The sharp, unmistakable sound of gunshots suddenly rang out.

People started running and screaming, said witnesses.

It was one single gunshot that ended Whyte's life. When police got there, they found Whyte lying on the sand, suffering from one single bullet wound; it is unknown where it hit him. Police did CPR chest compressions, but Whyte was pronounced dead. Someone shared this video of the scene to Facebook.

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