A British man is facing jail after he admitted goading a suicidal American into shooting himself over a video call.
Dylan Phelan, from Morley in West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to encouraging the suicide of Travis Dyer in Louisiana on October 30, 2024.
The 21-year-old appeared at Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday where a judge told him to prepare himself for prison.
Phelan had been communicating with Mr Dyer, who had mental health issues, on the online platform Discord for several months, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
It was not until six months after Mr Dyer’s suicide that Phelan accompanied his parents to Elland Road Police Station, in Leeds, where he told officers he had taken part in a video call during which Mr Dyer was encouraged to take his own life with a shotgun alongside.
Phelan told West Yorkshire Police he had been on the call with two other people from the United States.
He also told police he had ‘become drawn to the darker groups on Discord’ and ‘accepted that his words were a factor in the suicide’.
Examination of his mobile phone also revealed the possession of an indecent image of a child and other extreme pornography images, a CPS spokesperson said.
Dylan Phelan, from Morley in West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty at Leeds Crown Court to encouraging the suicide of Travis Dyer (pictured) in Louisiana on October 30, 2024
Mr Dyer was encouraged killed himself while on a video call with two other Americans and Phelan
Judge Robin Mairs adjourned the case until May 22 for sentencing and bailed Phelan until then, with the condition that he is not allowed to have a device capable of accessing the internet.
The court heard the sentencing hearing would take place in the afternoon so Mr Dyer’s family can attend by video-link.
The judge told Phelan: ‘Do not take the fact that I am granting you bail and allowing the preparation of these (pre-sentence and mental health) reports as any indication as to what sentence will be on May 22, and prepare yourself for custody.’
Phelan pleaded guilty at a hearing last month to one count of making an indecent image of a child in November 2024 and three counts of possessing extreme pornography in March 2025.
Mr Dyer, 21, lived in Theriot, Louisiana, and lost his mother and younger sister in a crash 10 years before his own death.
In August 2014, Ashley Ann Worrell, 31, and her three-year-old daughter Delaney Rae Lirette died after their pick-up overturned into a canal.
An obituary posted on a funeral home website after Mr Dyer’s death said he was ‘sweet, gentle, quiet, kind and very caring to those he loved’.
It read: ‘Travis will forever be loved and terribly missed by all of those who have known him.’
A tribute posted by his great-grandmother said: ‘Travie, We miss you. Needless to say, I’m so beside myself. I don’t know what to say or how to say it.
‘Sweetheart, you were so unfortunate to have had so many tragedies in your young life. It was totally unfair for you.’
Alex Johnson, senior specialist prosecutor in the CPS Special Crime Division, said: ‘This was a deeply disturbing case involving the exploitation of a vulnerable young man through an online platform.
‘Dylan Phelan did not merely witness what happened – he actively participated in goading Travis Dyer to take his own life, intending that he would do so.
‘Online spaces are not beyond the reach of the law. Encouraging self-harm or suicide, whether in person or through digital platforms, is a serious criminal offence.
‘Our thoughts remain with Travis Dyer’s family and friends. We hope that today’s conviction brings them some measure of justice.’
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