Leeds man admits ‘goading’ vulnerable US citizen into shooting himself over video call
Dylan Phelan has admitted to encouraging a man called Travis Dyer, who lived in Louisiana, to take his own life in 2024
A man has admitted goading a “vulnerable” man in the US into shooting himself over a video call.
Dylan Phelan, 21, from Morley in West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to encouraging the suicide of Travis Dyer in Louisiana on October 30, 2024.
Phelan was told by a judge to prepare himself for prison when he appeared at Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of assisting suicide, with the court hearing it involved Phelan “together with others… encouraging Travis Dyer to kill himself by shooting”.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Phelan had been communicating with Mr Dyer, who was known to be vulnerable and struggling with his mental health, for several months through the online platform Discord.
In March last year, Phelan attended Elland Road Police Station in Leeds with his parents and told officers he had taken part in a video call, alongside two other people based in the United States, during which Mr Dyer was encouraged to kill himself with a shotgun, the CPS said.
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.
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, local newspaper Houma Today reported 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.”