Naman Shrestha
Helen Hastings was a bright first-year college student who met their demise in an unfortunate accident in 2021. Their sudden passing sent shockwaves across the entire community and social media, given their popularity on TikTok and Instagram. All the intricate details about the complicated case and the investigation that followed are explored extensively in the episode titled ‘Dressed to Kill’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘Lethally Blonde.’ The documentary also features insightful interviews with Helen’s loved ones and the officials who worked hard to solve the case.
Helen Hastings Met Their Demise During a House Party in Early 2021
Born in July 2002 in Houston, Texas, Helen Rose Hastings was the beloved daughter of Philip Hastings and Susan Rosenberg, both of whom were employed at the Baylor College of Medicine as acclaimed geneticists. While growing up, Helen aspired to establish an institute for women scientists in Japan. During their middle school days, they were allegedly bullied by their peers for struggling with misophonia. What complicated things further for them was their same-sex relationship with a classmate, who revealed their relationship to others at school. As they soon identified as pansexual, the bullying worsened and so did their anxiety, depression, and eating disorder.
Looking for an outlet and a sense of belonging, Helen then turned to cosplaying. In eighth grade, they attended their first cosplay convention in Houston with a friend. As the concept proved intriguing, they attended many more cosplay conventions before becoming a cosplayer and amassing a small following on their Instagram and TikTok accounts. Helen was popular for cosplays of characters like Mystery Girl from ‘Steven Universe’ and KarKat from ‘Homestuck.’ Through cosplaying, they met with their close friends and roommates, Crona Rogers, Mary Anne Oliver-Snow, Robin, and Alec.
While attending Oberlin College in Ohio, Helen studied psychology, art, and neuroscience and planned to develop a way to treat misophonia. Soon, Helen moved into Mary’s home, where other friends also lived. Their dreams of achieving great things in life were shattered on the evening of January 16, 2021. The authorities were called to Mary’s house, where they were having a house party, in the early hours of January 17. The police found Helen in a critical condition, and the EMTs rushed her to the hospital. The detectives took photos of the crime scene and secured the murder weapon. After being placed on life support for two days, Helen eventually succumbed to the gunshot wound.
Helen Hastings’ Killer Claimed to be Intoxicated at the Time of the Shooting
As several of Helen Hastings’ friends and roommates were present at the crime scene, they were all interviewed separately by the police. According to their statements, Helen’s friend, Mary Anne Oliver-Snow, who was a popular TikTok influencer and cosplayer, accidentally shot Helen. During the house party, most of the friends were intoxicated when Mary pulled out their ex-boyfriend’s gun as a joke while watching ‘Gotham,’ claiming that it was just like Penguin’s from the show. Mary alleged they remembered taking the magazine out of the gun before playing with it.
The friends at the party allegedly began asking Mary to shoot them jokingly. When Helen also prompted them to shoot the gun, Mary pulled the trigger, and the gun shockingly fired. Although they couldn’t recall putting the magazine back into the gun, Mary admitted fault. After the shooting, they tried to stop Helen from bleeding and called 911. On January 18, 2021, Mary was arrested and charged with second-degree felony manslaughter. However, on January 19, their friends got them bailed out of the $20,000 bond.
Mary Anne Oliver-Snow is on Probation and Prefers to Keep Their Life Away From the Spotlight
After accidentally shooting Helen Hastings to death, Mary Anne Oliver-Snow reportedly took a three-week hiatus from social media. However, starting in early February 2022, they resumed posting cosplay content while wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet, indicating that they were on house arrest at the time. Several of their TikTok posts were questioned for their macabre nature, especially after Helen’s tragic passing. Later, Mary was also reportedly accused of violating their bond by failing to keep her GPS tracking device charged or check in as instructed by the court. Ultimately, Mary was sentenced to a total of 5 years’ probation and community service. As of today, they lead a private life away from the limelight, without being publicly active on social media.
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