Editor’s Note: This article contains discussions of suicide. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, you can find resources in your area on the National Crisis Line website or by calling 988.

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WJTV) – A Starkville family’s worst nightmare has become their life’s mission.

Walker Montgomery, 16, took his own life after falling victim to an online sextortion scam. Now, his father is pleading with parents to protect their children, and lawmakers are fighting to hold social media companies accountable.

On November 20, 2022, the Montgomery family’s day looked like so many others. Walker went hunting with his father and shared dinner and prayers with his mother.

“Walker went to bed perfectly normal. He had what every 16-year-old kid would dream of having. And for us, is his friends and family and everything else. And it’s hard to imagine that you can go to bed with your kids in that situation, and they don’t… they’re not with you the next day,” said Brian Montgomery, his father.

In the middle of the night, Walker was targeted by an online predator.

“And about midnight, Walker was contacted by someone pretending to be a young girl in the area. The conversation started with just, ‘Hey, what’s up? You know, I’m friends with another friend on Instagram,’ and, you know, just building credibility,” said Brian.

The scammer convicted Walker to participate in a sexual encounter and recorded it from the other end.

“And as soon as that was over, the person went back to Walker and said, ‘Hey, we have this video, and we’re going to send it to all of your friends and family. If you don’t pay us $1,000.’ Walker panicked,” stated Brian.

Walker told the scammer he didn’t have the money and begged them not to send the video.

“Finally, the person started sending Walker screenshots of the video being sent out. It actually wasn’t being sent out, but it showed him. It looked like the person was sending the videos out to people in his Instagram feed, that he was friends with,” said Brian. “And of course, he’s begging them to stop. And finally they get to Walker’s mom. And he told the person, ‘I’m going to kill myself.’ And the person’s response was, ‘Go ahead, because you’re already dead anyway if you don’t send us the money.'”

Brian said within three or four hours after the first contact, Walker went into his safe, got a handgun and took his own life in his room.

Walker attended Starkville Academy, played football, had friends and was active in his church. Brian said online predators typically target teenagers who are athletes and popular with classmates.

“It’s more so relative to a kid’s perspective on his surroundings, meaning that socially, if it looks like he has more to lose, athletes are very high on that list because they’re popular. A lot of people know they’re connected to a lot of people,” Walker’s father said.

For Brian, the pain is still unbearable. However, he’s determined that his son’s story will not end with tragedy.

“I’m committed that Walker’s legacy is not what happened that night. His legacy is going to be the kids that are going to get to live,” he said.

That legacy is now law. The Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act required age verification and parental consent for minors on social media. State Rep. Fabian Nelson (D-District 66) co-authored House Bill 1126.

“House Bill 1126 requires our social media platforms to verify the age of users, to make sure that minors under the age of 18 are not using the services without parental consent,” Nelson said.

Nelson said the bill is personal for him as a lawmaker and as a father.

“As a father, I know how it is. Kids get on social media. There’s a lot of bullying that goes on. And in Walker’s case, he didn’t feel comfortable talking to his parents. So, I approached it as being a parent and thinking about how social media has really hurt so many of our teenagers,” he said.

Nelson said parents must understand what’s at stake. Online threats don’t just come from bullies at school, the come from strangers who are continents away. Those who targeted Walker were trace to Nigeria.

The law faces pushback from tech companies. Brian said with age verification, these companies will likely lose ad revenue.

“It is a revenue driven perspective from tech, and they’re very good at cloaking that into a First Amendment issue. But it’s really about the dollars,” he said.

The Montgomerys know no law will bring Walker back, but they hope to share his story will spare other families from waking up to the same nightmare.