Terrifying situations like this have sadly become the new normal — a heartbreaking case of a mother who lost her child, all tied to phone use. Summer Bushman is a grieving mother whose 10-year-old daughter, Autumn, tragically passed away earlier this year.
Now, she is devastated — blaming herself for giving her daughter a phone so young and for not taking it away at night. She reportedly told CBS News with a breaking voice, “She deserved to live life, and I will never see her go to a homecoming or prom.” He further said, “I’ll never see her, you know, get married, or in a wedding dress. And that’s really difficult.”
Autumn was from Roanoke, Virginia, died on March 21. Her family says she was bullied, both at school and online, and that despite alerting the school, the torment didn’t stop. Her father, Mark Bushman, said teachers assured them the issue had been ‘handled,’ yet Autumn kept coming home in tears. “They said they had handled it, and that was about as far as it went,” he said. “This is an age where they have tablets and they have phones, so it’s happening around the clock. They can’t really escape.”
Summer remembered one heartbreaking plea from her daughter shortly before her death. “She came to me crying and she was really upset,” she said. “And she said, you know, ‘Mom, I’m just, I’m really stressed out. I’m being bullied. Can I please stay home from school tomorrow?’” The next day, Autumn was gone. Police later said there was no criminal activity and closed the case. But the grief and guilt are something Summer will carry forever.
Records show Autumn had been using her phone right before she died. It was a device her mom now wishes she’d never handed over. “I had questioned that a couple of times, and she fought back and said, ‘Mom, I need my alarm,’” Summer told CBS. “And every single morning when I’d wake her up, she had her alarm going off.”
A Virginia Tech study has shed chilling light on tragedies like Autumn’s, showing that most youth overdoses and suicides happen late at night, often after using their phones. “Most overdoses occurred late at night, often during or after screen use,” researchers said. They warned that the mix of late-night scrolling, bullying messages, and easy access to pills creates a deadly storm for vulnerable kids.
Dr. Abhishek Reddy, who led the study, said it’s “pretty dangerous” for bullied children to have phones in their bedrooms. His advice to parents is simple but urgent: no phones at night, no unlocked medicine cabinets, and a firm handle on online activity. Now, through unbearable heartbreak, Summer is begging other parents to listen before it’s too late.
“Go through your child’s cell phone to make sure that they are being kind to other children,” she told WSLS. “Go through your child’s cell phone to make sure children are being kind to them.” Autumn’s story has left the Roanoke community shattered. A bubbly, bright little girl — gone far too soon because of cruelty, screens, and silence. Summer hopes her daughter’s tragedy becomes a wake-up call. “She deserved to live,” she says softly. “And I don’t want another parent to go through what I’m living now.”
