Death of Tyler Johnson Weaver

  

Tyler Johnson Weaver
Born	Tyler Johnson Weaver July 17, 2000 Juno, Plumas
Died	June 10, 2017 (aged 16) Juno, Plumas
Cause of death	Suicide by hanging

Tyler Johnson Weaver (July 17, 2000–June 10, 2017) was a Sierran teenager who, after suffering from bullying, abuse, and depression, committed suicide at his home in Juno, Plumas. His death received nationwide attention when his boyfriend, Jacob Aston, posted a video on VidStream admonishing those who tormented Weaver and his family for not preventing his death. After the video went viral, he appeared on Good Morning Sierra to raise awareness for depression among LGBT youth.

Two days after Weaver's death, the Sutter County Sheriff's Office said they were opening an investigation, looking into possible abuse-related charges and named Weaver's parents, Katherine and Francis Weaver, as "persons of interest". They have not spoken publicly about their son's death. The police said they were also questioning some of Weaver's classmates at John Augustus Sutter High School in nearby Dappe.

Background

Tyler Johnson Weaver was born on July 17, 2000 to Katherine and Francis Weaver in the small town of Juno, Plumas. Although Weaver lived in Juno, he spent a great deal of his time elsewhere in Sutter County, particularly the neighboring town of Dappe where he went to school and met his boyfriend, Jacob Aston. Tyler's parents did not know he was gay until six months before his death. Tyler's boyfriend said that although his parents were not particularly religious, they disapproved of their son being gay. He was their only child and friends of Tyler's mother say she was distressed they she may not have grandchildren.

Tyler struggled with depression since youth and it went undiagnosed for years. In 2015 he began taking anti-depressants which, according to posts on his Facebook account, only made his suicidal thoughts worse. He went off the medication without telling his doctor and eventually stopped seeing him altogether.

Tyler reportedly experienced bullying at school for numerous reasons. Tyler, in various dairy entries and Facebook posts, seemed believed he was being persecuted for being gay but other students who knew Tyler dispute the factual accuracy of this. According to them, there were many gay students attending John Augustus Sutter High School but none faced any sort of bullying. Instead, Tyler's friends have stated Tyler tended to start fights with other students and became involved with student dramas that did not concern him. Tyler's boyfriend insists he was in fact bullied.

See also

• LGBT rights in Sierra
• Juno, Plumas