TikTok’s ‘gay best friend’ Rory Teasley allegedly strangled to death by boyfriend
Rory Teasley, a rising TikTok star, has died. (Screen captures via TikTok)
Rising TikTok star Rory Teasley was allegedly choked to death by his boyfriend after an argument over a video game curdled into violence.
Michigan police found Teasley, best known by his social media handle 2pump4tv, unconscious in his home on 8 January.
They were responding to a call made by his boyfriend of more than a decade, Docquen Jovo Watkins.
When officers arrived, Watkins, 31, told them that Teasley was “sleeping” on the couch, Oakland County Sheriff told local TV station WDIV.
Teasley was found not breathing – he was rushed to hospital and later pronounced dead, aged just 28.
The Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that Teasley died of asphyxia and neck compression.
Docquen Jovo Watkins told the authorities that he and Rory Teasley had scuffled while playing the video game Overwatch.
During the fight, Watkins allegedly choked Teasley to death. He has been charged with second-degree murder, according to People.
“We see far too often across the country these days when people resort to violence over trivial and insignificant disagreements,” Oakland Country Sheriff Michael Bouchard told WDIV in a statement.
“There is never a reason where violence is acceptable over a disagreement. Those who do so will be held accountable.”
Watkins has been detained at the Oakland County Jail without bond.
Rory Teasley described himself as “everybody’s gay best friend” and was known online for his dynamic personality and dance skills.
In one TikTok video, Teasley and Watkins dance together to Summer Walker’s “Insane”.
“When We Both Cheated on Eachother With The Same Dude & We Both Fell For Him,” Teasley joked in the caption.
His final video, uploaded only days before his death, saw him joke about “getting old”. “Approaching 30 be like,” he said in the caption, the video showing him struggling to get out of bed.
TikTok user and Teasley’s collaborator, @NotoriousMoke, in a tribute to his friend on Instagram: “I’m so lost for words, I can’t stop crying. I love you so much.”
