Girl Allegedly Pretends To Commit Suicide So 11-Year-Old Boyfriend Will Do The Same; He Dies

(WWJ) A mother of a Marquette boy is speaking out about the tragic death of her 11-year-old son, who, she says, committed suicide suicide because of a cruel social media prank.

Tysen Benz of died Tuesday at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor after spending three weeks on life support following a suicide attempt on March 14.

Katrina Goss says she found her son hanging by the neck in his room after seeing social media posts and texts claiming his 13-year-old girlfriend killed herself. The girl was allegedly behind the cruel prank.

And it wasn't true, she was fine.

"So, [Benz] believed her and said, 'I'm going to kill myself,'" Goss told the New York Post.

Goss told Buzzfeed she blames the young woman entirely for her son's death. They reportedly dated for five or six months -- over his mother's objections -- before his demise.

"He was the happiest, most joyous child until he met her, she was mean to him, controlled him and took advantage of him," she told the news source. "Even after I repeatedly told her to leave him alone."

Prosecutors now say the 13-year-old girl, who was texting with Benz before he killed himself, has been charged as a juvenile with malicious use of a telecommunications device and using a computer to commit a crime.

This is the second time this week small Upper peninsula town Marquette has been in the national headlines.

Earlier, a teen sexting ring in Marquette was discovered by investigators that involved hundreds of students in six different area school districts.