Parents Say Son, 13, Died After Attempting Dangerous Social Media Challenge: ‘We Remain Paralyzed in Thought and Sorrow’

A pair of Southern California parents are mourning their 13-year-old son, who they believe died after participating in a dangerous social media challenge similar to one that took several lives when it surfaced years ago.

Nnamdi Glenn Ohaeri Jr.’s mom and dad found him unresponsive in his bedroom in Murrieta in the morning of Monday, Feb. 3, after spending the previous day watching the Grammy Awards together, KTLA reported.

After finding Ohaeri Jr., the eldest of their four sons, his mom performed CPR while his father, Nnamdi Ohaeri Sr., contacted a neighbor and police for help, per KTLA, but the teen was later pronounced dead.

And though it initially appeared that Ohaeri Jr. had taken his life, his parents had doubts, so they began investigating on their own, which led them to discover that their late son had learned of a dangerous social media challenge, KTLA reported.

It is unclear whether the teen’s death has been officially ruled a suicide or whether police are investigating the circumstances of his death.

The Murrieta Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Similar to the “Blackout Challenge” — a viral TikTok trend that reportedly caused the deaths of several children and led parents to sue the platform a few years ago — the challenge that Ohaeri Jr.’s parents believe claimed their son’s life challenges participants to make themselves unconscious, according to KTLA.

But Ohaeri Jr. had strict parental controls on his phone and no social media accounts, his parents told the outlet, which led them to believe that he learned of the challenge from his classmates.

The Murrieta couple hope that their son’s story can inspire other parents to be more aware of what their kids are exposed to on social media and through their peers.

As a parent, Ohaeri Sr. said he has been “mindful of influences” and open with his sons about topics like drugs, “but we don’t talk about not following social media trends or playing social media games,” he told KTLA. “And maybe we need to.”

In the wake of his son’s death, he added, “I’m going through the Rolodex of guilt now like, ‘Did we check in more? Should I have not been as firm four years ago?’ ”

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Ohaeri Jr. loved music and sports, and he “had a good sense of humor and a great wit about him,” his dad told KTLA.

A GoFundMe fundraiser for the teen’s family, which has raised more than $74,000, also offers more insight into who the teen was prior to his sudden death.

The 13-year-old was “a vibrant, kind, loving, beautiful young man, a son, a brother, a grandson, a nephew, a friend, a teammate, a bandmate, a leader, an athlete, who had a passion and incredible talent for football,” the GoFundMe description says.

In a Feb. 18 update to the fundraiser shared following Ohaeri Jr.’s Feb. 14 funeral, his father wrote, “It has been 15 days since Deuce passed away, and this feeling still does not seem real. We never would have thought one of our children would be the face of a GoFundMe campaign and yet here we are.”

In an earlier update, Ohaeri Sr. wrote that “it has been challenging navigating the shock, grief, and intermittent feelings of hopelessness and anger, while also trying to plan for proper transitional services.”

“We wish the circumstances were different but they are as they are,” he wrote. “And we remain paralyzed in thought and sorrow in trying to fully understand why.”

The grieving parents’ other three sons, he added, are “managing as well as can be expected, and we are doing our best to try and navigate their pain.”

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