- Mary Anne Oliver-Snow is a cosplay influencer known as “Yandere Freak” on TikTok and Instagram.
- They were charged with felony manslaughter after authorities said their friend was shot.
- Oliver-Snow deleted her social accounts nearly a year later.
A TikTok cosplayer accused of his friend’s fatal shooting had his TikTok and Instagram accounts deactivated nearly a year later, the TikToker’s attorney confirmed.
Mary Anne Oliver-Snow, who uses they/them pronouns, had more than 1.6 million followers on her TikTok account, according to Rolling Stone research published Oct. 21. The 23-year-old has since deactivated her TikTok and Instagram accounts, both of which were under the name @yandere.freak, her attorney Brent Mayr confirmed.
“They’ve been disabled for a very important reason,” Mayr told Insider, adding that Oliver-Snow is “distancing herself from social media right now” after the “emotional and psychological trauma they’ve been through.”
It was not immediately clear when Oliver-Snow deactivated the accounts, but Mayr said she believed the Instagram account was deactivated in recent weeks.
Oliver-Snow was a celebrity in the TikTok cosplay community, a combination of dress-up and gaming that involves dressing up as fictional characters from movies, video games, or other media, where they were known by the nickname “Yandere Freak.” Oliver-Snow dressed up as yandere characters, an archetype in anime and manga culture of a character whose love for someone morphs into possessiveness and violence.
The Houston-based TikToker was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter on January 18, according to the Harris County criminal record, a crime that can result in up to 20 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines in Texas.
Oliver-Snow told police that her friend, 18-year-old Helen Hastings, was shot while the other two and five friends were at Oliver-Snow’s home in the early hours of January 17 watching the television show inspired by “Batman” “Gotham,” according to court documents reviewed by Rolling Stone.
The shooting occurred in an apparent accident while the group was playing around with a Glock pistol, according to documents reported by the Houston Chronicle. Insider was unable to obtain the court documents.
“Snow told police that they and their friends played with the gun quite often, believing it to be safe as her ex-boyfriend said he had removed all the bullets from the magazine,” Rolling Stone wrote, citing court documents. Mayr also told Rolling Stone that Oliver-Snow said Hastings’ death was an accident and that they didn’t know the gun was loaded.
Hastings, a freshman at Oberlin College, met Oliver-Snow through the Houston cosplay community, according to Rolling Stone, which interviewed Hastings’ mother, Susan Rosenberg, and four of Hastings’ friends. Hastings was also a cosplay influencer with more than 120,000 followers on TikTok, according to Chronicle.
Emergency medical technicians took Hastings to the hospital, where she was placed on life support and died two days later on January 19, according to Rolling Stone.
Oliver-Snow’s attorney, Mayr, reportedly told Rolling Stone that Oliver-Snow was “incredibly sorry for what happened” but was unable to speak to Rolling Stone because they were traumatized after Hastings’ death.
After Hastings’ death, Oliver-Snow took a three-week hiatus from TikTok, but then, in early February, continued to post more cosplay content, reported Rolling Stone.
In April, Oliver-Snow made an Instagram post dressing up as the character Ayano Aishi from the game “Yandere Simulator,” which involved them posing with bloody handprints on their cheeks, Rolling Stone reported. Speaking to Rolling Stone, Mayr said this type of content was not related to Hastings’ death.
Mayr told Insider that Oliver-Snow has yet to reach a plea deal, adding that he wasn’t sure if the case would go to trial or end with a plea deal.
His next court appearance is Nov. 11, Harris County court records show.
The Houston Police Department, TikTok and Instagram did not respond to requests for comment.