Hello again tiktakers!
Not long ago we made a video about a murderer who became viral on TikTok: Isabella Guzman.
The video we made about her was very well received by you, so today we'll be talking
about another murderer who also attracted a lot of views on this popular social media
platform.
We are talking about Devon Erickson.
Have you heard of him?
Even though he did something horrible, Devon published many TikTok videos focused on his
physical appearance.
We'll be talking about that, but first, we'll share with you what happened on May 17 of
2019, and who were the ones involved.
Devon Michael Erickson was born on September 21 of 2000 in Colorado.
His family life was apparently normal, and he grew up involved in different hobbies including
videogames and music.
He was a singer and guitar player, and presented himself as such on social media.
He also used the Internet to give his opinion about, and publicly denounce, the injustices
he suffered from some people due to his appearance and his sexual orientation.
His best friend was Alec Mckinney, a young man from a dysfunctional family who also suffered
from bullying.
In his case, he decided to start his transition from boy to girl, and he was not being accepted
by some of his classmates.
In 2018, Alec had to be interned into a mental health center for a few days.
Given this context, during the next few weeks, both friends planned what would be their bloody
revenge.
They decided to kill all of those who mocked and humiliated them, and so, they devised
a horrible plan.
On May 17 of 2019, the friends got together at Devon's house, and once there, they took
three weapons belonging to his parents: A rifle, and two guns.
They then hid the rifle in Devon's guitar case, and the guns in Alec's bag.
The friends then took their concealed weapons into their car, and drove to the STEM school
in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, where they both studied.
They entered the school through a door with no security, and went directly to the classroom
number 107.
They went through different doors, and sat in the back row of the classroom.
Everything was going according to plan… until Devon started to get extremely nervous.
He was covered in sweat, anxious, and asked the teacher permission to go to the bathroom.
Some people say that in that moment, Devon thought about going to the principal's office
to confess what they were about to do… but he didn't.
Alec also went out of the classroom, and then the two went back to their seats…
Shortly after coming back in, the two young men took out their weapons, and chaos ensued.
Wielding their guns, they ordered their classmates to lay on the floor.
However, some of the students tried to stop them – more specifically, three of them
rushed directly towards Devon: Joshua Jones, Brendan Bialy, and Kendrick Ray Castillo.
Kendrick used his body as a human shield to defend his classmates.
In the middle of the struggle, Devon shoot his weapon, and Kendrick collapsed to the
floor, dead.
The anti-shooting protocol was immediately activated, and the police quickly showed up
at the school, but the place didn't have enough security, so the first minutes were pure chaos.
Many people ended up severely wounded.
The two young men were arrested.
In that moment, Devon was already a legal adult, but Alec was still technically a minor,
so he was prosecuted sooner.
He declared himself guilty of planning and participating in the shooting, and asked for
forgiveness for his actions.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of release on bail after spending
40 years in prison.
On the other hand, Devon took way longer to prosecute.
He never acknowledged his guilt, and his defense focused on trying to convince the judge that
their client had been manipulated by Alec.
They tried to make it so that most of the blame would fall on Alec.
However, Devon was finally declared as guilty of first degree murder, attempted murder,
and other felonies.
The video of Devon's first appearances in court became viral on TikTok.
In the video, he appeared with flashy long hair.
Many users claimed that Devon should have been let free since he was so cute, which
is completely absurd and unjustifiable after what he did, tiktakers.
There are even TikTok profiles that were created specifically to support him!
It's really crazy.
Now, even though this is the story of yet another murderer, it should also act as a
warning to make us remember how important it is to take good care of our mental health.
It's also important to be alert of all the signals people with mental health problems
can send us.
And on the other hand, we cannot forget either how important it is to implement anti-bullying
protocols in schools and other education centers – many people really need them!
Finally, don't forget tiktakers: Never initiate violence towards other people.
Aggression and revenge are never the solution!