{"id":7440,"date":"2026-01-28T09:25:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T09:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7440"},"modified":"2026-01-28T09:25:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T09:25:49","slug":"her-story-will-forever-live-on-and-im-going-to-say-her-name-heather-wyatt-walked-into-the-american-idol-premiere-carrying-something-heavier-than-nerves-her-daugh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7440","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHer story will forever live on. And I\u2019m going to say her name.\u201d Heather Wyatt walked into the American Idol premiere carrying something heavier than nerves \u2014 her daughter\u2019s memory. When 15-year-old Khloe Grace began singing \u201cForever 13,\u201d a song inspired by Aubreigh Wyatt\u2019s life, the room quietly shifted. The lyrics weren\u2019t dramatic. They were honest. They echoed struggles Khloe said mirrored Aubreigh\u2019s own, and suddenly this wasn\u2019t an audition anymore \u2014 it was remembrance. Heather listened through tears, recognizing her daughter in every line. As the song unfolded, even the judges couldn\u2019t stay composed. Carrie Underwood, usually steady in her seat, was visibly overcome, wiping away tears as she struggled to speak. By the final note, emotion had taken over the room, and Khloe received a unanimous yes… Full video below \ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aubreigh Wyatt was an eighth grade student who died by suicide in 2023.<\/p>\n

The 13-year-old was born and raised in Ocean Springs, Miss., and was a straight A student at Ocean Springs Middle School, per her obituary. She was involved in youth programs at her local church and also enjoyed gymnastics and making social media videos.<\/p>\n

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Aubreigh died by suicide on Sept. 4, 2023. Since then, her mother, Heather Wyatt, has become a major advocate against bullying, as she claims that Aubreigh was relentlessly harassed prior to her death.<\/p>\n

Heather got emotional while remembering her daughter\u2019s life and legacy on the season 24 premiere of\u00a0American Idol<\/em>, which aired on Jan. 26. During the episode, hopeful contestant Khloe Grace performed a song written in remembrance of Aubreigh.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s everything to know about Aubreigh Wyatt.<\/p>\n

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\"Aubreigh<\/div>\n<\/div>
Aubreigh Wyatt.<\/span>Aubreigh Wyatt\/TikTok <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aubreigh was a 13-year-old eighth grade student from Ocean Springs, Miss.<\/p>\n

\u201cAubreigh was a straight A student, an amazing daughter, sister, and friend,\u201d her obituary read. \u201cShe loved the beach, her friends, gymnastics, riding four wheelers and making TikToks. Aubreigh was well known and loved in the community, especially for her outgoing and bubbly personality.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to her mother, Aubreigh is survived by her sister, brother and grandfather. Heather has used social media to open up about her grief and share her daughter\u2019s story. Aubreigh\u2019s name and photos began to spread after her death, and the hashtag #LLAW (Live Like Aubreigh Wyatt) started trending as well.<\/p>\n

Heather has also used her platform to advocate for mental health care. In an update on their GoFundMe page from July 11, 2024, Heather urged people to make donations to \u201clocal therapists and counselors\u201d and to \u201ccheck in with local crisis centers to see if there\u2019s anyone that needs help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aubreigh\u2019s mom, Heather, claimed that bullying led to her daughter\u2019s death<\/span><\/h2>\n
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\"Aubreigh<\/div>\n<\/div>
Aubreigh Wyatt.<\/span>Aubreigh Wyatt\/TikTok <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Heather claimed that consistent bullying led to her daughter\u2019s death, stating that at least four girls harassed Aubreigh, per\u00a0Newsweek<\/em>. Heather has also called for the kids and their parents to be held accountable.<\/p>\n

Although Heather never named the four girls publicly, internet sleuths ascertained the identities of the girls Heather claimed bullied her daughter, and their names were circulated widely. Purported texts between Heather and Aubreigh detailing the alleged bullying were also shared online.<\/p>\n

Investigations by local police and a youth court found no evidence that the four teens were responsible for Aubreigh\u2019s death, per\u00a0The Washington Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Heather and the parents of the alleged four bullies were entangled in lawsuits<\/span><\/h2>\n

In response to their daughters\u2019 names being circulated online, the parents of the four alleged bullies filed a lawsuit against Heather, claiming defamation and slander,\u00a0The Washington Post<\/em>\u00a0reported. After the July 2, 2024, filing, a judge also ruled that Heather must shut down all of her social media accounts. Many social media users were outraged at the ruling, claiming it violated Heather\u2019s freedom of speech.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Newsweek<\/em>, the complaint against Heather read, in part, \u201cAs a direct and proximate cause of the false, defamatory, and slanderous social media posts of the defendant, Heather Wyatt, the plaintiffs\u2019 minor children have been receiving insulting and revolting messages from around the world attacking them, calling them vulgar names, sexualizing them. These young ladies WERE IN THE 8TH GRADE!!\u201d<\/p>\n

However, on July 16, 2024, the parents dropped the lawsuit, according to a filing shared by\u00a0Vicksburg<\/em>\u00a0News<\/em>\u00a0and reviewed by PEOPLE. The case was \u201cdismissed without prejudice,\u201d meaning the parents can file it in the future should they choose. Days later, the social media ban against Heather was lifted by the judge overseeing the case and her TikTok profile came back online.<\/p>\n

Heather filed a lawsuit against the Ocean Springs School District<\/span><\/h2>\n
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\"Aubreigh<\/div>\n<\/div>
Aubreigh Wyatt TikTok; Ocean Springs Middle School.<\/span>Aubreigh Wyatt\/TikTok: OSMS <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In February 2025, the\u00a0Sun Herald<\/em>\u00a0reported that Heather had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Ocean Springs School District, claiming that they \u2014\u00a0along with the superintendent and the school board \u2014\u00a0were negligent and violated state and federal laws that are intended to protect children from bullying.<\/p>\n

Heather shared the news of her lawsuit in a public post on Facebook, writing, \u201cI will continue this fight for Aubreigh. I. Will. Not. Stop. My daughter\u2019s death will NOT be in vain. The pain and suffering she endured will be acknowledged. Her story will be heard. Her light will never be dimmed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trey Brennan, spokesman for Ocean Springs School District, shared the following statement with PEOPLE.<\/p>\n

\u201cOcean Springs School District continues to extend its deepest condolences to the Wyatt family as they mourn the loss of Aubreigh Wyatt,\u201d he said. \u201cWhile OSSD is unable to discuss specific student matters, the district follows rigorous procedures in response to all reports of inappropriate behavior, harassment, or bullying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brennan continued, \u201cDespite misinformation being spread on social media, our administrators have been and will remain committed to addressing all reported incidents with integrity and dedication to the well-being of our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather honored her daughter on the season 24 premiere of\u00a0American Idol<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
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\"Khloe<\/div>\n<\/div>
Khloe Grace auditions for \u2018American Idol\u2019 with Heather Wyatt.<\/span>Eric McCandless\/Disney <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Heather continued remembering Aubreigh while appearing on the season 24 premiere of\u00a0American Idol<\/em>\u00a0on Jan. 26. During the auditions episode, Heather introduced 15-year-old singer-songwriter Grace, who wrote a song dedicated to Aubreigh.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not a contestant. My name is Heather Wyatt. I\u2019m here to introduce Khloe Grace. Khloe is a young girl, who about a year ago, wrote and performed a song in honor of my daughter, Aubreigh, that we lost to suicide in 2023,\u201d Heather told judges Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.<\/p>\n

Grace explained to the judges that she\u2019d be singing her original song, \u201c13 Forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething kept telling me to write that song, so I did,\u201d she shared. \u201cI\u2019ve never met her. I couldn\u2019t [get the story out of my mind] and it did just relate \u2026 I felt that so much in my heart to write this song [and] I went through some of the things Aubreigh went through, and it was really hard. So I was like, if I could write something that could just very small help someone, then it\u2019s totally worth me writing this song.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather added that she heard Grace perform the song for the first time on TikTok and \u201cimmediately cried\u201d about how the lyrics \u201creflected what Aubreigh had gone through.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAubreigh is my forever 13-year-old daughter,\u201d Heather said. \u201cShe is bright, beautiful, talented, and she endured years of bullying, social media pressures and took her life Sept. 4, 2023. Just very unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grace\u2019s song brought all the judges to tears and earned her a unanimous vote to move on to the next round of competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe maturity you possess is quite incredible,\u201d Underwood told the singer. \u201cThe way you had your heart broken for someone you didn\u2019t even know and take that and basically say that something positive is going to come out of it. And think about all the people who hear that and see your story and change their mind. It\u2019s pretty incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aubreigh Wyatt was an eighth grade student who died by suicide in 2023. The 13-year-old was born and raised in Ocean Springs, Miss., and was a straight… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7440"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7442,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7440\/revisions\/7442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}