Yesterday, I touched on the real impacts and effects of online violence against women. All too often, online violence against women is brushed off as:
“Just the internet.”
“Block them.”
“Don’t feed the trolls.”
But for far too many women, the abuse doesn’t stay online. It escalates into real-world stalking, home invasions, sexual violence, and even murder. This isn’t at all hypothetical. It’s happening in court records and headlines. Below are documented cases that show exactly how online harassment, stalking, and sextortion turned into offline harm.
1. The Redmond Podcaster Who Did Everything Right — and Was Still Killed
In March 2023, Redmond, Washington podcaster and software engineer Zohreh Sadeghi and her husband Mohammad Milad Naseri were murdered in their home by a man from Texas who had become obsessed with her online.
Sadeghi had met the man through an online chat platform related to her podcast; when his behavior escalated, she cut off contact and eventually obtained a no-contact protection order. Police described a clear history of stalking.
He drove from Texas to Washington, broke into their home, and killed both her and her husband before dying by suicide. This is what it looks like when systems treat digital stalking as less serious until it is far too late.
2. “Miss Mercedes Morr” — Instagram Fame, Offline Murder
Janae Gagnier, known to 2.6–2.7 million followers as Instagram model “Miss Mercedes Morr,” was found dead in her Richmond, Texas apartment in August 2021.
Police say she was killed by a man who then died by suicide at the scene. Her family publicly stated they believe she died at the hands of a stalker who had become fixated on her through social media.
Her parents described her as a loving daughter and made it clear that her online visibility made her a target, not an object for public consumption.
3. Christina Grimmie — A Rising YouTube Star Killed by a Stalker
Singer and YouTuber Christina Grimmie built a huge following online, then gained national fame on The Voice. In June 2016, after a concert in Orlando, Florida, she was shot and killed by a man who had become obsessed with her.
According to reporting and later analyses, the killer was described as “infatuated” and had an unrealistic fixation with her as a fan, classic stalking psychology amplified by parasocial, online access to her life.
He traveled to her show armed with two handguns and a knife, waited in line at her meet-and-greet, and opened fire when he reached her. Grimmie’s murder is one of the clearest examples of how digital-age obsession crosses the screen into deadly violence.
4. Amanda Todd — Sextortion, Cyberbullying, and Suicide
Amanda Todd was a 15-year-old Canadian girl who was relentlessly harassed and blackmailed online by a man who coerced her into exposing herself on webcam and then used those images to torment her for years.
He repeatedly resurfaced, created fake profiles, and shared the image with classmates and others, even after she changed schools. The harassment and cyberbullying were directly tied to her intense anxiety, depression, and self-harm. Amanda died by suicide in October 2012.
In 2022, Dutch national Aydin Coban was convicted in Canada of extortion, criminal harassment, and related offenses tied to Amanda’s case, and later received a converted sentence in the Netherlands for his crimes, including similar online exploitation of dozens of other victims.
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide:
In the U.S., you can call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. If you’re outside the U.S., please check local crisis resources.
5. A Survivor of a Serial Killer, Re-Terrorized by a Cyberstalker
As a child, Krystal Surles survived a brutal attack by serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells that killed her friend and nearly killed her. Decades later, a man in Florida, Alvin Willie George, began stalking her and her sisters on Facebook.
According to court records and coverage, George:
- sent them graphic crime scene photos of the 1999 attack
- referenced her home address and her child
- made threats to rape and kill them
He had no personal connection to the original crime; he just found them online and exploited their trauma. He pled guilty to cyberstalking and was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison.
Online violence doesn’t just “hurt feelings.” It can re-open old wounds in ways that feel worse than the original trauma.
6. Sixteen Years of Terror: A Serial Cyberstalker in Massachusetts
In 2025, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts announced the sentencing of James Florence Jr., a man who cyberstalked more than a dozen women over 16 years.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Florence:
- targeted women he knew personally, including family and close friends
- used fake accounts, impersonation, and sexualized posts
- humiliated, threatened, and psychologically terrorized his victims for over a decade
Officials described his conduct as “sickening, demented, and cruel,” noting that he weaponized technology to “debase, destroy, and traumatize” these women.
This is the slow-burn version of online violence: no single dramatic event, just years of sustained harm that invades every part of women’s lives.
7. The Pittsburgh “Influencer” Accused of Stalking 11 Women Across States
In late 2025, federal prosecutors charged Brett Michael Dadig, a Pittsburgh-based social media influencer, with interstate stalking and making threats against at least 11 women across several states.
According to the indictment and reporting:
- he used social media, podcasts, and direct messages to demean, threaten, and sexualize women
- traveled across state lines to gyms and other locations where women worked or exercised
- followed and harassed them in person, including an alleged unwanted sexual touching in a parking garage and showing up uninvited near victims’ homes and workplaces
Prosecutors describe his conduct as “relentless,” and note that he repeatedly violated restraining orders while using online platforms to frame himself as the victim. This is online misogyny turned into a multi-state stalking campaign.
8. When Obsession Turns into Extortion: The Case of Kassandra Cruz
The FBI documented the case of Kassandra Cruz, a Miami college student studying criminal justice who became fixated on a woman she’d seen on a pornography website.
Cruz:
- tracked down the woman through social media
- used fake accounts to harass her across platforms
- sent relentless messages and calls
- made extortion demands, threatening to release private information and cause harm
She eventually pled guilty to cyberstalking in federal court and received a prison sentence. Again: this started as “just online.” It ended with a woman living in fear and a federal felony conviction.
9. Not Just Women — Youth in Michigan and Beyond
While this piece centers women, it’s crucial to note that technology-facilitated abuse hits all genders, especially teens.
A high-profile example close to home: two Nigerian brothers were sentenced to over 17 years in federal prison for a sextortion scheme that led to the 2022 suicide of 17-year-old Jordan DeMay, a Michigan teen.
They posed as a girl on Instagram, demanded money after receiving explicit images, and threatened to expose him. He died shortly after paying part of what they demanded. This is the same pattern we see in Amanda Todd’s case: online leverage, offline death.
What These Cases Have in Common
Across all of these stories, these cases, there are some definite patterns that jump out:
1. Entitlement and Ownership
Whether it’s the stalker who travels across states with weapons or the sextortionist behind a laptop, the mindset is similar:
“You belong to me. I get access to you. If you resist, I punish you.”
2. Digital Tools as Weapons
Abusers may use:
- fake accounts and aliases
- doxxing and exposure threats
- non-consensual sharing (or threats to share) images
- IP logs, background landmarks, linked accounts
They blend online with offline surveillance.
3. Escalation When Systems Fail
In several of these cases, there were prior warnings:
- protection orders obtained just before it was too late
- repeated police reports before escalation
- years of harassment before any charges were filed
Women did what they were “supposed” to do and of course, the system did not move fast enough.
What Loved Ones Can Do (Right Now)
I know many loved ones can be alarmed and concerned seeing a loved one go through something like this, and with these stories, it’s not unfounded. The biggest problem is we need a major cultural shift before people take it seriously.
Women usually won’t admit online they’re “scared” or run around crying on camera because they have to put on a brave face for the world. If they don’t, the first thing that will happen is their harasser will jump on that as a sign of weakness, using it as a chance to humiliate and degrade them further. It is literally a no win situation for a victim.
And that’s what makes it even more important to support those around you who are suffering through this nightmare. If someone you love is dealing with online violence:
Believe them the first time.
Do not minimize it. If someone says they are scared, treat it as real danger and report it accordingly. Because if you don’t, I guarantee you, that person will be ridiculed, called overemotional, and made out to be “crazy.” It’s surely a miserable feeling, and it further isolates that person from the support they desperately need.
Help them document everything.
- screenshots, emails, texts
- URLs, usernames, IP logs where possible
- dates, times, and descriptions
- do not leave them to be the only one making police reports. If there’s one thing serial abusers love more than anything, it’s to make their victims look crazy and “unhinged.”
This can be crucial later for protection orders or criminal cases.
Take escalation seriously.
Patterns to watch:
- moving from threatening DMs to contacting their friends, family, and employer
- telling people where they are going to be on what dates so they can show up to harass or humiliate her
- using systems as tools of harassment
Support safety planning.
- tighten privacy settings
- scrub personal info from data brokers if possible
- vary routines if she feels unsafe
- consider legal advice and local advocacy organizations
What Needs to Change — Especially in Places Like Michigan
Michigan (and many other states) still treats digital abuse as less serious than an in-person threat. From these cases, we know that’s deadly. So considering that, we really need:
- Updated stalking laws that explicitly include abhorrent online behavior, doxxing, and sextortion
- Statewide protocols for cyber evidence (screenshots, IP logs, platform records)
- Mandatory judicial training on technology-facilitated violence
People should not have to wait until someone crosses state lines with a weapon or a rope or worse, saws someone’s head off, for law enforcement to say, “Oh ok, now it’s serious, guess we better do something.”
Call to Action
This is not and should never be entertainment. And if you believe it is, you’ve got to get your head and your heart right. If you or someone you love are experiencing online violence:
- You are not “too sensitive.”
- You are not “just dealing with trolls.”
- You are seriously seeing the early warning signs of something that has already turned deadly for others.
Have friends and loved ones help you keep and organize documentation. Always, always tell people you trust about what’s going on. Reach out to local advocacy organizations, cybercrime units, and civil attorneys if you can.
If you are a policymaker, journalist, or court official:
- Stop treating online abuse like background noise.
- Start treating it like pre-incident intelligence, because that’s exactly what it is.
Every time we dismiss a police report, deny restraining orders, or cheer on men doing harm to women and children, we repeat the same script these cases already wrote in blood.
