KY mother shares ‘sextortion’ story after 16-year-old son dies by suicide

On the night 16-year-old Eli Heacock, of Glasgow, died by suicide, and his mom lay on his chest trying to save him as he took his final breaths, police discovered he had been a victim of sexual extortion.

Sexual extortion, often called “sextortion,” is a form of exploitation where perpetrators demand money under threat of releasing sensitive images.

In Eli’s case, he received a text with an artificial intelligence-generated nude photo of himself, asking that he pay $3,000 or the photo would be sent to his family and friends.

He sent $50, but then the boy, ordinarily a happy teenager, his mother said, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Eli’s parents, John Burnett and Shannon Heacock, went to the White House in May, when President Donald Trump signed a new federal law aimed at criminalizing the publication of non-consensual, intimate images. The law also requires websites that publish such material to implement a process for removing the material upon the person’s request.

Heacock has continued her advocacy this summer, including on Friday, when she worked to send messages to sheriffs’ offices in all 50 states urging them to re-post her message:

“Hello, my name is Shannon Heacock, and I am writing this letter to share our story of sextortion and how it happened to our family. On February 28, 2025, I lay on the chest of my 16-year-old son, Elijah, as he took his final moments on this earth.

“At 11:45 p.m. (Eli’s) twin, Palin, woke us up to tell us Eli was hurt,” Heacock said in the letter that the Casey County Sheriff’s Office was among the first to re-post.

“I tried to save him, as his dad took over trying to get Eli to breathe. Within hours, we would find out our son was a victim of sextortion — something we had never heard of. In 45 minutes, someone from a site had sent our son 150 messages making threats with AI-generated photos. “

Heacock told the Herald-Leader she asked an FBI agent, “’How do I stop this?’ and the agent told her, ‘You talk about it, because people don’t talk about it. You use your voice.’”

Heacock said she wants to continue to spread the word in small towns.

“I am doing what I can by sending letters to every sheriff’s department in all 50 states with the hope that if you know what evil is lurking on the internet after our children, you will spread the news,” said Heacock, a cheer coach at Caverna High School.

Heacock is concerned that the adult who has been identified as receiving $50 from Eli has not yet been criminally charged, and that criminal laws aren’t even stronger.

Her efforts have drawn the attention of both federal and state lawmakers.

“I want to honor Eli Heacock, and express my gratitude to his mom, Shannon Cronister-Heacock, for having the courage to share her son’s devastating story,“ U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Kentucky, said in a news release after Trump signed the legislation tightening sextortion laws.

This past spring, the Kentucky General Assembly also passed a law, the bipartisan Senate Bill 73, that establishes criminal penalties for perpetrators of sextortion and strengthens legal protections for victims. The bill makes sexual extortion a felony offense if the perpetrator has damaging photos and makes threats, and it also makes it a misdemeanor if they say they have damaging photos but don’t.

“This is a critical step in protecting children and vulnerable individuals from one of the fastest-growing crimes in our country,” the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, said in a news release. S.B. 73 sends a clear message: those who use threats and coercion to exploit others will be held accountable under Kentucky law.”

In addition to criminal penalties, the new law created civil remedies to allow victims and their families to seek damages. The law also mandates education initiatives in Kentucky schools and colleges to help prevent sexual extortion and ensure students and parents know where to turn for help.

“We can’t undo the damage these crimes cause, but we can make sure victims have support and hold offenders fully accountable,” Adams said in a news release. “I’m proud to see this bill become law, and I’m grateful to my colleagues and the governor for standing with victims of this horrific crime.”

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those who want to help someone else. Call 988 to speak with a trained listener or visit 988lifeline.org for crisis chat services or more information.

This story was originally published July 12, 2025 at 5:00 AM.