A Stephenville family is speaking out after the death of their 9-year-old daughter, warning others about a dangerous social media challenge that tragically claimed her life.

Whether it was family gatherings, birthday parties, vacations or endless nights of karaoke, the Blackwells were an inseparable family of three.

“It was just the three of us, three amigos, we did everything together,” said Curtis Blackwell. 

“Karaoke. She loved karaoke; she could do it all day,” Curtis and Wendi Blackwell said.

JackLynn Blackwell’s parents say she loved to sing and had dreams of being a star.

“She was on YouTube a lot, which, of course, a lot of kids are,” said Curtis Blackwell.

The 9-year-old also loved a challenge, especially those she found on social media. Those social media challenges seemed harmless to her parents. Until a month ago.

“Normal morning, tickle her, to wake her up to get ready for school,” Wendi Blackwell said. 

“She goes out to play like she always does, out in the yard. I noticed it’s kind of quiet — quieter than it should’ve been,” said Curtis Blackwell. “Then I saw her kind of around the corner that goes to the carport, saw her hair. I said, ‘JackLynn!’ I thought she was bending over playing cause she was always in that area playing, but she wasn’t playing.” 

JackLynn was found with a cord wrapped around her neck.

“I found her unconscious, she was leaned into the cord,” Curtis Blackwell said. “I tried to do everything I could to save her. I got her off the cord. I tried to give her CPR until the first responders got there. It was the most terrifying, shocking thing I’ve ever seen. It was horrible to see my daughter in such a vulnerable state because of something so senseless.”

JackLynn died that day in her family’s backyard.

“I don’t think I’ll ever,” said Curtis Blackwell. “I’ll never forget that day. That’ll replay in my head for the rest of my life.”

The Blackwell’s have spent the days since trying to understand why it happened.

“My mom told me that JackLynn had shown her a video before of a guy doing that with the cord, my mom told her, ‘Don’t you ever do that,'” Curtis Blackwell said.

Videos on social media of people intentionally choking themselves to get a brief euphoric high, often called the blackout challenge, have been circulating for years. 

Her parents believe JackLynn was copying what she saw and became one of the 80 documented cases of death from the challenge, according to the CDC.

“It’s not a joke, it’s not a game, it’s life and death, ” Curtis Blackwell said. “Most of the kids are like 9 years old to 14 years old. A lot of kids her age, their brains aren’t fully developed, and they are very easily influenced.”

Some social media sites now put up warnings or block searches for the blackout challenge. But we found videos continuing to promote the highly dangerous act.

“She’s our beautiful angel now,” Wendi Blackwell said.

Only a month after losing their daughter, the Blackwells are turning their grief into action. 

“Even if it saves one life, that life means a lot,” Curtis Blackwell said.

They’re calling for more accountability so that no other parent has to turn their backyard into a memorial for their child.

“You could check on your kid, it could be kid-friendly videos, and then three minutes later it could be totally something dark because of the algorithms they start creating,” said Curtis Blackwell. “There’s too many of these kids lost for these companies not to be held accountable in my eyes.”

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