True Crime with Kimbyr - Deadly TikTok Obsession: Cosplayer’s Dream Turns Fatal: Part 2

Episode Date: May 15, 2025

In Part 2 of True Crime with Kimbyr, Kimbyrleigha uncovers shocking new details about Helen Hastings’ final days. What really happened behind the scenes of her friendship with “Snow The Salt Queen”? As chilling messages and disturbing videos emerge, the line between cosplay fantasy and sinister manipulation grows darker. How far was Snow willing to go to keep control? Kimbyrleigha takes you deeper into this twisted story of obsession, deception, and betrayal. Don’t miss Part 2 of this gripping investigation, only on True Crime with Kimbyr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And after a year or so on TikTok, Helen had a few videos that actually went viral. This one right here with 14,000 views was the first one. It's another homestuck cosplay. Then there was one at 33,000. And then finally, on March 4th of 2018, this video blew up. The audio is no longer available, but it had over 300,000 views. Now, this video was a cosplay of a Night in the Woods video. video, she was dressed as a cat after the character, and it was almost like every video going

forward each time she posted gained even more views. And over time, Helen was up to 20,000. And then by the 31st of March, she thanked her audience for 60,000 followers, and then over 100,000. And her account finally grew to 150,000 followers. And it's a community of these like-minded people that are giving her attention. That's a lot. And before long, the negative attention that she got at school was outweighed by the positive feedback she received online. And eventually, it seemed as though Helen and Devin were no longer together. But Helen was stronger than ever.

She even posted a few videos venting through lip-sinking videos of different songs with audio related to ex-boyfriends. And about a year and a half after Helen was first introduced to cosplay, she got to meet one of her favorite cosplayers and TikTok stars, Snow the Salt Queen. And this was probably a huge milestone and quite an amazing experience. As many of us know what it's like to meet someone famous or someone we hold in high regard as being talented in our industry or our hobby. Remember that Snow and Helen both live in Houston, Texas.

And even though it's a big city, the Houston Cosplay Circuit had its pockets of tight-knit friend groups and Snow had one. They were selective about who they let into their group. And Helen had a chance to be part of all that when the two of them met up. When they got together, Snow posted a video on October 3rd of 2018 that Snow posted onto their TikTok tagging other girls. All four of them appeared in the video and I'm showing it on the screen now. I'm going to freeze frame it for you. That's Snow with the short blue hair. Helen is the one in the red wig. The TikToker exquisite curse cosplay is in the pink wig and Farrell Toga is in purple.

Now Helen shared this video to her TikTok as well with the hashtag squad goals among others and the Audio is, I would say, funny to me anyway. It says, you make me want to throw up and shit on myself. I don't know. It does make me laugh and it looks like they're having fun together. And it's no surprise to me, but after this meetup, Snow and Helen continued connecting through local events and TikTok and the Houston cosplay circuit.

And ultimately, Snow accepted Helen into their close-knit group of friends, which meant that they started hanging out beyond just random TikTok videos and going to cosplay conventions and events. I want to tell you more about Snow because I'm not sure how much Helen or anyone else knew about them. Helen was only 15 and in the 10th grade when she met Snow, who was four years older at 19. Snow's name is actually Marianne Oliver Snow. Mary Ann was born in September in 1998 in Houston, Texas, not far from where Helen was raised. Mary Ann identified as non-binary and chose to go by they, them pronouns, as well as the name Snow online. When the pair first connected, Marianne was going by the online handle Snow the Salt Queen on TikTok, which you can see in that video that I posted.

It's right on the video. Snow's account on TikTok featured them in cosplay and shared the process of designing and making anime costumes. Marianne had amassed a huge following on TikTok after several posts of her in intricate outfits went viral. And by 2021, Snow had more than 1.6 million followers and 45.5 million likes on TikTok as well as 20,000 followers on Instagram. Just like Helen, Marianne found a community of like-minded people online via TikTok. And they shared that they had been bullied thanks to their quirky interest in non-binary identity. And just like Helen, Marianne used their TikTok account and cosplay to provide an escape from reality. Now, I don't want everyone to get too confused. So from here on, I'm going to refer to Marianne as Snow. One thing that was different

about Helen and Snow's online experience is that Helen used TikTok to express her personality through cosplay, but Snow seemed to use cosplay as their entire identity. And what Snow wanted their identity to be? It wasn't pleasant. The bio of Snow's TikTok said, Tomora is God. And this references the main villain from the anime My Hero Academia, Tamara's mission is to murder one of the series protagonists and bring about the downfall of society. And many of Snow's videos showed them dressed up as Junco and Ashima from the Dong Gong Rompah series. This anime series has a character who I mentioned Junco with the long blonde pigtails, the big blue eyes, and the distinctive school uniform and black jacket adorn with pins. And that's exactly what Snow's videos looked

like. And if you look at Junco's character, it looks adorable. And after all, she's a cartoon. She's not real. It's cosplay. It's all about pretending. But Junco is a bad villain in the anime world. And I know this probably sounds funny to some people like, okay, it's not a real character. But to Snow, it was different. It wasn't exactly how Snow looked when emulating Junco that was problematic. It was Snow's declaration that they were the reincarnation of Junco. That's what's concerning, especially when you know the context. In the Dong Garumpa anime series, high school students are trapped in a deadly game where they have to kill each other to escape and it's all orchestrated by the Junco character herself. Juko embodies the extremes of despair and chaos

and is extremely delighted by the suffering and the manipulation of her victims. On Snow's Instagram bio, they referred to themselves as in real life, Junco and Oshima. And Snow was actually very possessive of this character in that they would criticize anyone else who tried to cosplay as Junco and they seemed to enjoy getting caught up in the controversy and the drama. A person named Dolly Lace, a Houston-based cosplayer that knew Snow, said they were like the Regina George of the community. And another friend, Jim Pinker, a friend of Helens, actually, who hung out with Snow.

said that the drama is what brought Snow's friend group together. There was always something going on in Snow's world, so everyone would be talking about it. Snow's violent perspective and provocative content was significantly different than Helen's content. Helen focused on relatively innocent costumes and dance routines, and recall that it showed you how Helen would imitate Snow's videos, and those videos had those violent and angry undertones.

But despite the distinctions in their content, The two hit it off after connecting on TikTok and then in person. It was after messaging back and forth online for a while that Helen and Snow finally met up in real life, like I told you. But even before that first meeting, Snow's content was becoming even more risque and provocative. Most other accounts in the cosplay niche posted outfits and gained positive feedback on how closely they imitated a character. But Snow took it to a whole new level by posting photos and videos dressed up as highly sexualized versions of the these underage personas. Now I hadn't even considered that, but I'm going to touch on it because it is very

controversial. Plus, Snow went another step further and offered a unique type of content to her 1.6 million followers. They could pay to have Snow take nude or semi-nude photos as these childlike characters. Do you see where this is going? Do you see where this can be problematic? Snow set up and only fans offering exclusive content and monthly subscriptions for their most devoted followers. It's easy to see why Snow became as popular as they did. I watched a number of their videos. They're talented. With their makeup, the wigs, the costume, the overall style, I can definitely tell they have star power.

And millions of people thought so too. This was far from Snow's first foray into questionable behavior. In January of 2019, just about six months after house, came into their life, Snow and a friend visited a cemetery in Texas. During this visit, Snow was dressed as Junco in a very skimpy cosplay outfit and dancing on top of graves of the deceased. They also kicked and defaced some of the headstones in the cemetery. Doing all of this in the first place was bad enough, but then Snow decided to upload this

video to social media. Of course they did. This is what they live for, viral content. Snow probably expected their audience to find these clips. looks funny or entertaining, but the cosplay community felt entirely opposite. Thousands of comments were being posted condemning Snow's actions and calling them out for being disrespectful to the dead. Mocking the dead is taboo in many cultures, and the reaction to Snow's video certainly demonstrated that point. But rather than apologize for their actions,

Snow decided to take a different approach. They claimed that the backlash was out of proportion to what they had done. In Snow's appearance, opinion, it was just a joke and people should have taken it like a joke and not taking it so seriously. So they took to TikTok Live while applying their makeup to comment about it. Snow said, quote, I didn't know there were so many goddamn rules in a graveyard. I still don't understand why it's wrong, but I'm not going to do it again, end quote. That's really not taking accountability at all. It's justifying it and having a big following can definitely cause someone to have a God complex. It's as though they can do no wrong. Snow also claimed that the management of the cemetery

had given permission for them to dance and desecrate the graves shown in the video. When the cemetery management were notified of this controversy, they strongly denied this claim. A statement on the cemetery social media said that since they had become aware of the video that Snow had actually trespassed on the grounds. So Snow was also a liar, which was not a good look for them. And sadly, Snow refused to learn any kind of lesson from the cemetery incident because allegedly, allegedly, just a few months later, Snow was in trouble again after posting that they needed money to fund a treatment for sick kitten theirs. But after receiving thousands of dollars of donations, it was revealed that Snow had actually pocketed the money. And for the record, this incident was mentioned in a number of videos I came across in reference to this case,

but I like to do my best to back up claims with facts, and I will let you know. I was not able to find any news reports backing this up. And that is why I prefaced it with allegedly. These are things that people said Snow was doing. But it wouldn't be the first time someone lied about something in order to create a fundraiser. I have seen this many times, sadly. And for Snow, that was just the controversy which played out on social media. Behind the scenes, Snow was involved in many more disturbing situations.

For example, after a bad breakup with a mutual friend, they dated from the cosplay community, Snow was barred from attending an 18 and older event that their ex was involved in. So for revenge, Snow reported the event to security and claimed that there was a child in attendance. And this might not seem like a major red flag, but it does speak to Snow's vindictive nature. And in another incident, a follower complained that Snow had charged them $300 for a Junco wig, which was clearly a cheap knockoff from a place like Alibaba, like Ali Express. And I went on Reddit, and I saw a post from a person that claimed that they had this same experience. So perhaps Snow had done this more than once.

Others called them out for taking real swords and blades to conventions rather than fake ones. And this is despite real weapons being prohibited from all these events and venues. And I was a little confused on how that would pass through security. I'm not really sure, but this is just what I read. And the stories of disturbing patterns of behavior began to emerge from those who met Snow in real life. They recall how Snow always chose to cosplay as villains. And even when they weren't in costume or filming content, the lines between fantasy of their characters and reality were blurred. Snow would act like these villains in the course of their everyday life.

They would take on different personalities multiple times throughout the day, depending upon the situation. If Snow needed to get away with something or convince someone to do something and to get their way, they would put on a sweet, high-pitched voice that I can't even do, and they would flutter their eyelashes and refer to themselves by the name of a sweet anime character. But when Snow needed to be more powerful, they would deepen their voice and take up a dominant stance with their arms crossed and their shoulders back. In these situations, Snow would refer to themselves as a villainous anime. character. It's unclear if Snow was just simply role-playing in these situations or if they were

switching between personalities. But on Snow's personal website, there was a list of what they referred to as their altars with a wide range of gender identities and ages. And this appears to be a reference to DID or disassociative identity disorder. And DID is a real mental health condition where a person experiences two or more distinct identities or personality states. These identities may have their own names, ages, histories, and characteristics. And DID has often been associated with cosplayers thanks to the creative expression and role-playing elements to what they do. But it's important to note that they're fundamentally different phenomenons. People who cosplays different characters are not experiencing disassociative identity disorder. And there's no evidence to indicate that Snow was ever

diagnosed with DID. Most of Snow's altars were villains, though. And what is clear, that is no matter how much controversies swirled around Snow, they continued to mock anyone who called them out. In fact, Snow seemed to thrive on all the drama. An ex-friend of Snow's once commented, quote, Snow has always been someone who leverages controversies and callouts into publicity. They will wait out the drama and use that notoriety to make themselves even more known as possible." Because Snow thrived on the drama and scandal, they constantly sought out ways to cross the line and be more edgy. By stirring up controversy, they solidified their reputation as someone who would do anything to stay relevant. By the time Snow and Helen crossed paths, it was clear

that Snow was someone who would prioritize fame over friendship. They were more likely to create chaos and conflict than to offer any real encouragement or support to their friends. But, either didn't realize who Snow really was, or maybe she thought Snow was just putting on a performance for social media. Either way, she saw past all of Snow's history, and the pair quickly bonded over their shared experiences with gender identity and the challenges of growing up being different in a conservative state of Texas. After that first time meeting, Snow and Helen began hanging out in person regularly.

Snow no longer live with their parents. were with their parents. They lived in a house on the outskirts of Houston, several miles from the center of the city, and they also had a number of housemates from the cosplay scene who were featured on Snow's TikToks. These people were known as Snow's inner circle, and they were never far from snow side at home or when they were out in public. When Helen started spending more time around snow and the members of their inner circle, her mom, Susan, began to notice that Helen was changing, and not in a good way. Helen enjoyed school. despite all the bullying, but out of the blue in her senior year, she told her parents she

wanted to drop out of school and get a job at Goodwill. Now, Goodwill, if you don't know, it's a thrift store. Susan was surprised at this revelation because Helen had always talked about going to college and look who her parents are. But Helen told her that Snow and the Circle of Friends were encouraging Helen to leave school and do life on her own terms. In Susan's opinion, people who call themselves friends and can see that you truly enjoy learning and had a dream of starting a center for science for women in Japan wouldn't be telling you

to drop out and get a job at Goodwill. In the end, Susan managed to convince Helen to stay in school, but the disagreement actually drove a wedge between them. And by the end of Helen's final year of high school, she was spending hardly any time at home with her parents. And they didn't know what to do. They didn't know what she was up to. friends of the pair said that Helen was at Snow's house most nights. The group spent their time

drinking alcohol and smoking weed, even though those close to Helen said that she wasn't really into it as much as Snow and their friends were. However, slowly but surely, weed became a thing they did every day. Helen was going to school high, coming home high, and getting high in the evenings. Of course, her parents had countless disagreements over Helen's lifestyle choices and the people she surrounded herself with, but their concerns were not appreciated at all. Susan and Philip put the behavior down to the typical teenage rebellion and hoped that as Helen matured, she would grow out of her toxic friend phase. There was still hope that she would have a bright future because despite everything that was going on, Helen still seemed to be doing

okay in school. But Susan was taking a note. And once Snow and their friend group came over to Helens to use their pool. And while they were there, they wouldn't even make eye contact with Susan and even ended up stealing towels from their home. But not only that, one friend, Morgan Gross, that was in attendance and who actually dated Helen during her senior year, said that she witnessed the altars that Snow would portray. She found it to be concerning. Snow would alter her voice and her personality and actually saw these personalities get violent with other people shoving them and slapping one another. And they would change between these different personalities.

What I found interesting is that when looking into the Junco character, they two struggle with identity. It was pivotal to their character as a whole. Junco falls in love with a neurologist and has their memory wiped clean. And then Junco is manipulated into thinking that she's a different person anytime she kills someone. So it's this killing game that Junco is a part of

and it's what she thrives on. And as Junco is a part of, and as Junco, Snow would declare, quote, I am her, she is me, we are the same, end quote. And that scared some of Helen's friends, including Bailey. But ultimately to Helen's parents' relief in 2020, she graduated high school and was accepted to Oberlin College in Ohio. It's a small liberal art school which is about an hour outside of Cleveland. She enrolled to do a triple major in art, psychology, and neurobiology.

This all came at the height of the pandemic. At the time, Helen's parents were both working in environments where they were exposed to COVID frequently, which meant that Helen was also at an increased risk. And Helen was so excited to go to college, but also concerned that catching COVID would delay her being able to go to classes. So, when her friend Snow offered her to move into their place

for a couple weeks before leaving to go to college, Helen jumped at the chance. But Helen's parents weren't so keen on this idea, mostly thanks to the fact they had seen how Snow's friendship had negatively impact Helen over the past few months. But there was really nothing they could do to stop their daughter, who was now 18, an adult, able to do as she pleased. So Philip and Susan could only hope that Helen's college experience would mark a new chapter in their life. And with a new start, would come a whole new network of friends and hopefully more positive influences. I was told at a young age, and maybe you were too, that your friend group can make you or break you. The company you keep is very important, and it's something that many parents are fearful of,

the influence that a friend can have over their impressionable children, and Helen was still very impressionable. Two weeks later, Susan and Helen drove to Oberlin College, and that new chapter in Helen's life began. After a couple weeks, Helen told her parents she was a loving college life, and that she was focused on her studies and making new friends. She was hardly even posting on her social media. And finally, she seemed to have outgrown her past struggles and distractions. I mean, she was still doing TikToks, but not as many. However, she filmed a number of them in her new dorm room.

And even her look was much more mature because she was an adult now. But you can see that she is enjoying herself and her dorm room and her new school. In October of that year, Helen's mom, Dr. Susan, Rosenberg was awarded the National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award. It was her second time winning this prestigious honor. She actually received a $5.6 million grant to develop new research on using proteins to prevent and slow DNA damage, protecting against cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and aging-related diseases. This woman is brilliant. The Pioneer Award recognizes researchers who are groundbreakers in their fields.

This is truly an honor, and things were looking great. But the good times came to an abrupt end for Helen in November of 2020, when COVID cases begin to rise in Ohio. Thanks to their governor, Mike DeWine, shutting down all the schools in the state, Helen was forced to return to Houston. But rather than go back to her parents' house, she decided to stay with snow again and complete her classes online. Given this was in the middle of the pandemic,

public transportation, and opportunities for socializing were very limited, which meant that Helen was completely isolated from her family and her close friends. The only people she did have keeping her company was Snow and a couple of their housemates. But on top of all this, there was the matter of the house itself where Snow and Helen were staying. It was a large rental property, but it was in a constant state of disrepair and disarray. Now this video may future the home in the background with piles of trash visible. Helen also told some of her friends that the carpet in the house reeked of cat pee. And this was thanks to Snow's collection of animals. Now, Helen loved animals. She had pets of her own. She had a cat, in particular, a Siberian

therapy cat named Willa. And she just absolutely adored Willa. It was her emotional support animal. And during Christmas, when Helen went back home to visit with her family, Willa even had her own Christmas stocking. Willa was even off to college with Helen and lived in her dorm room with her. But she could still make the comment about the cat. Pea-smelling carpet, so this wasn't the best living conditions for Helen or anyone else. But everything seemed to be as normal as ever that holiday season. Helen would drop by with her friends and on Christmas Eve. She and her mom hung out together drinking some eggnog and catching up. And for the first few weeks back in Houston, Helen didn't think too negatively about the situation after all. It was only temporary and she would be heading back to

college in the new year. But over the next few weeks, the constant drinking and getting high began to wear her down. She started spending more and more time at her parents' house, and she even told her friends that she was desperate to go back to college. But Helen never got that chance. Thursday, January 17th, 2021 started like any other day for Helen, Snow, and their housemates. They decided to spend the evening drinking vodka mixed with Coke and Dr. Pepper and partying with friends who joined them later in the evening. As the night wore on, they watched movies and TV shows while Snow and a couple of her friends got high. Around midnight, the group started to watch the TV show Gotham, which is based in the fictional city where Batman grew up. But after

about 1.30 in the morning, a 911 call came in from someone inside Snow's residence. They reported someone had been shot. But by the time the paramedics got to the scene, the victim was barely, clinging to life. The victim was 18-year-old Helen Hastings. She was rushed to Houston Northwest Hospital and put on life support.