Alyssa Funke tweeted about her “porn star” status right before she killed herself.
Credit: Twitter
The family of a 19-year-old college student who committed suicide last month says cyberbullying played a significant role in the girl’s decision to end her life.
Alyssa Funke, a straight-A student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, had been taunted by peers after she filmed an amateur porn video earlier this year, KMSP-TV reported. On April 16, she bought a 12-gauge shotgun, drove to a boat landing on Big Carnelia Lake and killed herself.
Funke, who wanted to become an anesthesiologist, appeared in a film for a pornographic website called CastingCouch-x in March. In the video, Funke, who goes by the name “Stella Ann,” answers a few questions about herself before having sex with a stranger.
“I want to be a major in biology, minor in chemistry, and I want to be an anesthesiologist,” she said while sitting on the couch.
“I’m Stella Ann. I’m 18, from Minnesota, and I’m really looking forward to get started,” she said.
Just days after the video was posted online, her peers and former classmates from Stillwater High School in Minnesota took to social media to tease her. Student even gathered around their cell phones in the cafeteria to watch the video together.
“Wow your a thot,” one student tweeted, using the slang for prostitute.
“Nothing brings a school together like a porn star who graduated last year. I guess you could say news spreads fast here at Stillwater hahah,” another wrote.
Days before she took her life, Funke appeared to be defending herself to those who were mocking her. “Pornstar Status” and “FAMOUS for dayzzzzzzz,” she tweeted on April 14 and 15.
Funke’s family set up The Alyssa Stop Bullying fund to raise money for anti-bullying charities, but it raised just $165. They said that Funke suffered from depression from time to time, but the social media taunts are what drove her to commit suicide.
Police are still investigating her death, but detectives told KMSP-TV that they don’t believe the postings on social media constitute criminal harassment.
