Helen Rose Hastings was an 18-year-old first-year student at Oberlin College with a bubbly personality and a compassionate spirit. A White/Caucasian female from Houston, Texas, she was remembered by friends for her enthusiasm and sense of humor. Helen was pursuing a triple-degree in art, psychology, and neurobiology with the goal of helping treat misophonia, a sound-sensitivity condition she herself had experienced.
She was the only daughter of two acclaimed geneticists and was known for her love of cosplay and Dungeons and Dragons.
On the evening of January 16, 2021, Helen was at a small party with friends at the Houston home of Mary Anne Oliver-Snow, a 23-year-old TikTok influencer. Helen had been living with Oliver-Snow for a couple of months. The group was drinking and watching the television show *Gotham* when Oliver-Snow brought out a handgun that an ex-boyfriend had left at the house.
Oliver-Snow, who told police she was a fan of the Batman universe, announced to her friends that she had a gun like the show’s character Penguin. Believing the weapon was unloaded, she began playing with it. According to witness statements and Oliver-Snow’s own account to police, Helen jokingly said, “Ooooh shoot me.” Oliver-Snow, laughing, replied “Oh ok,” then pointed the gun at Helen and pulled the trigger. The gun fired, and Helen was critically injured. She was rushed to a hospital but did not survive.
Police who responded to the 911 call found Oliver-Snow cooperative. She gave a statement insisting she did not know the gun was loaded and that the shooting was a tragic accident. On January 18, 2021, authorities arrested Oliver-Snow and charged her with manslaughter. She was released on a $20,000 bond the following day. The case gained widespread public attention nearly nine months later, fueled by social media discussions about Oliver-Snow continuing to post cosplay videos after the incident.
The legal proceedings concluded with Mary Anne Oliver-Snow’s conviction for manslaughter. A judge sentenced her to five years of probation and community service. As of June 2023, this sentence marked the final resolution of the case.
