The 15-year-old TikTok star whose father shot dead an armed stalker trying to break into their home last July is set to testify in a Florida court on Monday in a bid to fend off another stalker as her family continues supporting her social media endeavors.
Ava Majury has been 'genuinely afraid for her safety' after she awoke to the sound of gunfire when Eric Rohan Justin, 18, blew open the front door of her home in Naples with a shotgun before her father Rob, a retired cop, shot him dead.
She has since been pulled out of school and her family moved to a new house in the state, but not before another boy began following her around and watching her every move.
The boy, whose identity was withheld because he is a juvenile, had been texting Justin before the deadly gunfire exchange, Ava and her family told the New York Times. Another classmate also sent Ava a video the boy had made of himself firing a gun at a shooting range.
Ava's lawyer, James Scarmozzino, filed a petition in Collier County Circuit Court seeking an injunction for protection against stalking and a hearing is set for this Monday, where Ava will testify. Her attorney did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.
'She is genuinely afraid for her safety. It is a shame that it too often seems it takes a tragedy for everyone to ask: Why didn't we act sooner?' Lanny Davis, an attorney for the family, told Fox News, adding that the family hopes to obtain video evidence connected with the new stalking case.
Meantime, the teen and her parents have defended Majury selling selfies to Justin and revealed she will stay on TikTok where she makes $1,700-a-video despite safety risks.
Ava Majury, whose father shot dead an armed stalker trying to break into their home last July, is set to testify in court next week
She will speak at a hearing in hopes of obtaining an injunction for protection against another stalker who had been following and watching her before she was pulled out of school. She was above with her retired cop father, Rob, in one of her popular TikTok videos
Ava's father Rob shot the stalker dead after he blasted off the door to the home in Florida (pictured). The family no longer lives at the home
Ava's juvenile stalker is said to have started intimidating and following her in December. They had been in contact prior to the stalking, however it is unclear when communication began.
Monday's hearing comes after having been delayed and Ava initially barred from testifying, 'but she is testifying at this hearing,' a spokesperson for Ava's family told Fox News on Tuesday.
'We're hoping that's a big development that could help her in getting the injunction,' the spokesperson said.
The teen now claims she is using her platform to as a resource for other people who are experiencing cyberstalking, harassment or threats of violence online.
'Social media can connect people of all walks of life and create a sense of community. But I'm telling my story so that young people and parents are also aware of the dangers of social media,' Ava wrote in a post on her Instagram account, sharing the Times article.
'I could never have imagined my innocent posts would result in a stranger showing up at my front door with a shotgun. I urge young people and parents to immediately report any threat or signal of violence, and not wait until it's too late,' she added.
Meanwhile, Ava's family is continuing to support her social media career. Ava joined TikTok in 2020 when she was 13.
She now has more than one million followers spread over three accounts that she runs. Most of her videos are of her singing, dancing or pulling pranks with her friends and family.
Despite her persistent fears, her parents are allowing her to stay on the platform - where she can earn more than $1,700 for a single video.
Ava told the New York Times in her initial interview last week: 'I have three TikTok accounts, so I could have one brand come to me and be like, ‘Oh, I’ll do $1,000 for one video on your main account,’ and I’ll be like, ‘Oh great, I have two other accounts that are different types of people on there."'
'So altogether, I’m making $1,700 off just my name, because I opened up three accounts rather than just building off one.'
TikTok influencers generate income from paid content, ads, appearances and merchandising. Most of the app's top earners make their money from deals with brands that are made outside of the app, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Brand analysts argue followers of TikTok stars find the content creators 'irresistible' and are 'emotionally invested' in their journey, making the followers 'more inclined to do or buy things they tell you to buy'.
This connection between star and fan has prompted several companies to launch product deals - such as Dunkin Donuts creating a personalized coffee drink named after Charli D’Amelio - with select TikTokers. Hulu has even created reality TV shows about certain stars.
TikTokers can generate an annual income close of $26-$32,000, if they build establish a following of more than two million, BBC analysts reported in 2020.
Ava claims she earns her money by creating branded content for certain companies with whom she reaches outside agreements. It is unclear what her total annual revenue is from brand agreements.
The teen also sold her adult stalker, Justin, selfies for $300 each, which he paid for via Venmo. He is said to have sent her a total of $927 on the money-sharing app.
Despite the ongoing safety concerns, Ava's parents are still encouraging her to create TikTok content.
'As parents, all that we've ever wanted is the best for Ava,' Rob and Kim Majury said in a joint statement to Fox News Tuesday. 'While becoming social media famous was not in the plan, we support our daughter's endeavors entirely. Never in our wildest dreams did we think a fun pastime could lead to a near-death experience.'
Ava posted the above on Instagram over the weekend, defending her and her family's decision to keep her on social media
Justin tracked Ava down in Naples, Florida , after buying her personal information from her friends. It is still unclear how exactly he got her address
Ava's father Rob retired from a New Jersey police force before they moved to Florida
Ava's most recent post on Instagram, posted over the weekend, is a statement defending her and her family's decision to keep her on social media.
'After this incident, my family insisted that I get rid of my social media. I pleaded with them to not force me to give up all that I had built and let the assailant stop me from doing what I love,' it reads.
'My family has suffered so much from this ordeal. I hope this sets the record straight and people resist the temptation to blame victims,' she adds.
Justin tracked Ava down in Naples after buying her personal information from her friends. He showed up at the family's home with a handgun, and fired a single shot through the door. It missed and his weapon jammed.
'All I remember was, I heard it, I felt it in my chest, and I looked up, and there was a hole in my door from the fragments,' Ava told The New York Times in an article published on Thursday.
Ava and her brothers - aged 17 and 11 - cowered in their parents bedroom as their father grabbed his weapon and headed to the front of the house.
When Justin returned after hiding for a moment, Robert shot him dead.
Ava joined TikTok in 2020 when she was 13. She now has more than one million followers spread over three accounts that she runs
Ava is shown as a child with her brothers and parents, Kimberly and Rob. They hid in their parents' bedroom while Rob killed her stalker last July
Ava learned that her old friends had sold her phone number to the stalker, along with photos of her that were not on the internet
Ava's parents allowed her to directly sell selfies to him. She said they were innocent, showing only her smile which is what her TikTok and Instagram accounts shows too
He was never charged because the killing was deemed legal under Florida's Stand Your Ground laws.
Police never made the details of it public at the time, but the family are speaking out.
They told how they moved from New Jersey, where Robert was a cop in Jersey City, to Florida for a quieter life after he retired.
That is where Ava started her TikTok career and attracted Justin. He commented on her pages under the username EricJustin111, bombarded her with messages and contacted her old friends in New Jersey.
They sold him photos of her that weren't online and also gave him her phone number. It's not clear how much he paid for her phone number.
Ava's parents then allowed her to directly sell selfies to him. She said they were innocent, showing only her smile which is what her TikTok account shows too.
'I did so because I thought it would stop him from harassing me and my friends. When he asked for explicit content, I blocked him,' she clarified in an Instagram post over the weekend.
Rob also contacted him when he started asking her for more explicit content and reminded him that Ava was a minor.
He asked him to stop contacting her and he became angry. He started texting friends of Ava's, threatening her. Then, on July 10, 2021, Justin showed up at the family's home with a shotgun.
Justin's father, named by The Times as Justin Dominic, a software engineer who is divorced from Justin's mother, told the paper that his son chose to stay in America rather than move to India with him in 2015 after his parents divorced, and that he had no idea he was stalking Ava.
'He was a nice kid. I'm at a loss for words. I don't know what went bad with him. He made a bad choice,' he said, adding that his son was a good student who did well in math at Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City.
Ava's family say they do not want her to stop TikToking now because every day is like 'Christmas Day' seeing how many views her videos get
Police found two cell phones that belonged to him and contained hundreds of photographs of Ava and some of her TikTok videos.
It's unclear how he found her address, but the family believes he may have gotten it from her current stalker with who he was texting.
Police at the time described it as a home invasion. They did not name any of the parties involved.
The police report however says: 'The subject was most likely a stalker that resulted from her daughter's extensive social media involvement.'
The Times reported that in August, months after the shooting, Ava received messages on Venmo from a different man who offered her $1,000 for her phone number.
The man, who called her 'baby girl,' was discovered by her parents to have the same name of a registered sex offender who was previously arrested for soliciting a 14-year-old girl, The Times reported. It is unclear if Ava has since been contacted by him.
The family is still living in Florida and Ava continues to sell videos on TikTok to brands, and post videos of herself dancing.
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