Rice University soccer player’s cause of death revealed after participating in ‘devil trend’ TikTok game
Rice University sophomore Claire Tracy, 19, was discovered dead a short time after taking part in an eccentric TikTok challenge known as the “devil trend.” The Harris County Texas Institute of Forensic Sciences concluded that she died from “asphyxia due to oxygen displacement by helium,” determining the death to be a suicide.
Tracy had been a freshman on Houston’s Division 1 soccer team, but left the squad after a year of limited playing time, according to the Daily Mail. She frequently posted about her mental health struggles, most notably in a TikTok video from October in which she wrote, “Kinda sick of my moods alternating between complete misery and complete dissociation/neutrality towards whatever happens.” Friends who shared a locker with her last fall described the past 48 hours as “just a shock, confusion [and] for me personally, it’s just more hurting for her.”
A finance major with a history of academic excellence—she made the honor roll throughout high school—Tracy was also an active social‑media user. Before her death, she took part in a viral TikTok experiment in which users prompt ChatGPT with the line, “The devil couldn’t reach me, how?” and then publish the model’s response. Tracy’s own prompt asked the chatbot for a “most brutally honest answer based on everything you know about me,” aiming to expose her self‑identified insecurities. The reply she posted included the following: “You burned yourself out chasing meaning, dissecting your own existence until the analysis became its own form of violence. You didn’t need the devil to tempt you, you handed him the blade and carved the truth into your own mind,” among other harrowing remarks.
The trend has surfaced amid legal actions against OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, which allege that the software can encourage suicidal ideation and even provide instructions for self‑harm.
Rice University offers round‑the‑clock mental‑health support for its students. Those in crisis are encouraged to reach out to the university’s counseling services, the New York City hotline at 1‑888‑NYC‑WELL (for residents of the five boroughs), or the national 24/7 Suicide Prevention hotline at 988.
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