This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
A video uploaded by YouTuber Randy Stair in 2016 prompted one of his online friends to cut off contact. Less than a year later, Stair carried out a workplace shooting at a Pennsylvania supermarket, trapping and killing three co-workers before taking his own life.
“It was scary,” Sammy told Fox News Digital. “I don’t want to say it was almost like a betrayal, but I couldn’t believe someone so friendly with me, someone who was so close to me, could make something so personal and upload it publicly. I blocked him for the last time after he released that video about me.”
The case is the subject of the Investigation Discovery (ID) “Deadly Influence: The Social Media Murders.” The episode titled “Enter the Ghost World” explores Stair’s online activity, escalating fixation and the warning signs leading up to the attack.
In April 2016, Stair uploaded a video titled “A Promise Kept.” It contained what several mutual friends described as graphic threats against Sammy. In it, Stair described in detail how he intended to kill her. Sammy said she couldn’t understand what had fueled his rage.
The video included an animated “Teenage Girl Missing” poster bearing a drawing that resembled Sammy. By the video’s conclusion, Stair â depicted as Ember McLain from “Danny Phantom”â is shown holding what appears to be Sammy’s severed head.
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“You’re gonna pay for what you did to me,” Stair is heard saying in the video. “Mark my words … You’re not safe. … You were once a sweet little girl in my eyes. But that was very short-lived. Just like your very existence.”
Sammy said the video convinced her to permanently end all contact with Stair.
“He would post very cryptic, , but obviously you couldn’t be completely sure,” Sammy said. “And I think we all wanted to keep an eye on him. We would block him and unblock him to look at his account. But after that video went up, that’s when I blocked him for good and ceased all contact.”
Stair launched his YouTube channel, PioneersProductions, around 2008, when he was about 15 years old. Much of his early content consisted of sketch comedy and self-deprecating homemade short films. Sammy discovered the channel when she was about 12 and became a fan. When Stair was about 21, the two began communicating online.
“I think what drew me to his page was how his videos almost felt like home videos,” Sammy said. “I grew up with brothers, so they also liked his videos and related to them. It made Randy relatable to me as a person, not just as a .”
“Our chats mainly started with us talking about his YouTube videos,” Sammy said. “But we both really liked music, and we shared a lot of common interests. I guess I viewed him almost like a big brother. We had a similar sense of humor. He was very friendly in the beginning.”
As Stair’s audience grew, he began posting more personal videos, including behind-the-scenes footage and personal reflections. The episode describ
