‘Novel’ case over Aubreigh Wyatt’s suicide moved from federal court. What’s next?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wyatt's attorney filed to dismiss federal Title IX claims and the school district agreed.
- Wyatt alleges the district was negligent, failed to protect her daughter from bullying.
- Federal judge noted the state-law claim may present a novel issue under Mississippi law.
The lawsuit Heather Wyatt filed against the Ocean Springs School District over the suicide of her 13-year-old daughter Aubreigh has been bounced back to state court from federal court.
Wyatt claims her daughter was bullied for four years by students who had been her friends, leading to her death by suicide in September 2023.
The middle child of Heather Wyatt’s three children, Aubreigh had just started eighth grade at Ocean Springs Middle School. Heather Wyatt was an elementary school teacher for the district when her daughter died, but returned to work for only a brief period before resigning.
Heather Wyatt shared the story of her daughter’s suicide on social media, where it resonated with teenagers and parents. She has 3 million followers on TikTok. Parents of the girls accused of bullying Aubreigh have pushed back on social media, claiming their children were not the cause of the teenager’s death.
Wyatt’s attorney, Daniel Waide of Hattiesburg, recently filed to dismiss the federal claims against the school district over its alleged violations of Title IX, a federal law designed to protect students from sexual harassment and discrimination. The school district agreed to the dismissal. With no federal claims pending, U.S. District Judge Taylor B. McNeel ordered the case returned to Jackson County Circuit Court.
“Wyatt’s state-law claim appears to raise a potentially novel issue of state law, as she is attempting to hold the school district responsible for her daughter’s suicide,” McNeel wrote in his order. “Indeed, this Court is unaware of any similar cases in Mississippi.”
Ocean Springs school personnel sued
Heather Wyatt’s previous attorney originally filed the case in Circuit Court in February 2025, but the school district had it moved several months later to U.S. District Court in Gulfport. Former Wyatt attorney Kimberly Papania of Gulfport eventually withdrew from the case after several missteps, including missed deadlines.
In addition to the school district, Wyatt named as defendants the Ocean Springs school board, the school district superintendent, and Ocean Springs Upper Elementary and Middle schools. The lawsuit also included as defendants unidentified teachers, nurses, lunch aides, librarians, counselors and administrators at both schools.
Wyatt says bullies bedeviled her daughter beginning in fifth grade and continuing until her death.
In the lawsuit, Wyatt accuses the school district of negligence under state law. She claims the district failed to protect her daughter from bullying, harassment from other students, both in person and online, and from sexual assault by a male student at the school stadium.
Her lawsuit also claims the school violated the Mississippi Educator Code of Ethics and Standards by failing to intervene or take corrective action to protect Aubreigh from harm.
The school district has denied any wrongdoing. Allison Fry, attorney for the district, has declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.
Now that the case has been moved back to Circuit Court, Wyatt’s attorney could attempt to amend the lawsuit. Waide has also declined to comment on the case.
This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 11:05 AM.
