TikTok star’s father kills daughter’s stalker, walks free

An obsessive fan of TikTok star Ava Majury traveled from his home in Maryland to the teen’s Naples, Florida home with a shotgun, using the weapon to blow open the front door before it jammed. Majury’s father Rob, a retired police lieutenant, first chased him off, then shot and killed him when he returned and pointed the gun at Ava. 

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The details of the incident were published in a New York Times report on Thursday. Despite initially keeping the incident a secret from Ava’s million-plus followers, the family has opted to go public as their daughter continues to receive unwanted contact from would-be stalkers - including classmates.

Rob Majury was not charged with killing Eric Justin, the 18-year-old stalker who pestered his then-14-year-old daughter for “booty pics” and photos of her feet, thanks to Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. However, the family has had to move to a rental home after the shooting, as their homeowners’ association complained about Ava’s disturbed fans being drawn to the property.

Justin appeared every inch the obsessed fan, with two phones belonging to him found to contain thousands of photos of the young TikTok star, as well as hours of videos she had posted to the platform. He reportedly purchased her personal information from ‘friends’ in New Jersey, where her family previously lived, and Florida, including her cell phone number, forcing her to unfollow all her local friends lest further information about her make it into Justin’s hands.

While Ava has received creepy messages from other potential threats, including a Venmo user who offered her $1,000 for her phone number and turned out to be a registered sex offender, her parents support her continued presence on social media. With her vast following, she has pointed to “all the benefits” internet fame has afforded her, such as an invite to an influencer convention in Los Angeles, lucrative sponsorship deals, and interest from reality TV producers, as reasons for her to keep making content despite negative attention from unhinged admirers.

However, she was forced to withdraw from school earlier this month after a classmate sent her a video he had made of himself firing a gun at a shooting range, and another classmate to whom Justin had revealed his plans to assault the Majury family had also begun “following” and “watching” her, she said. The family’s lawyer has filed a petition in Collier County Circuit Court seeking an injunction to protect against stalking, and Ava is expected to testify later this month.

Ava told the Times that she hadn’t initially shared the details of the incident with her fans out of concern that “people [will] think I attracted him,” or worse - that other crazed stalkers will “make it a contest to see who can get here first.” Collier County Police have confirmed that “multiple subjects have attempted to ascertain her family’s address in the past” and a report from the county sheriff’s office confirmed Justin was “most likely a stalker that resulted from [Ava’s] extensive social media involvement.” The investigation is reportedly ongoing.