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Aspiring Designer Was Told "Try To Kill Yourself On Xanax Again"
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 8, 2013
Modified Feb 8, 2013
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 8, 2013
Modified Feb 8, 2013
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The 22-year-old aspiring jewelry designer who killed herself on Wednesday had a bitter fight with her boyfriend's friend on Facebook a month earlier. The Post reports that Ashley Riggitano "felt under siege by five frenemies she barred from her funeral via suicide note." And one of the banned people was Alison Tinari, who wrote to Riggitano, "Go try to kill yourself on Xanax again, you unstable loser. Go f--k yourself and never speak to me again."
Riggitano jumped from the upper level of the George Washington Bridge on Wednesday, which was apparently her birthday. In her purse, prescription drugs like Adderall and Klonopin were found, as well as the suicide note, "written in girlish cursive on lined, loose-leaf paper." The Post had excerpts, "To any funeral, these people should not be allowed based upon words and actions," referring to Tinari, Teresa Castaldo, Beth Bassil, Victoria Van Thunen and Samantha Horneff, "All my other ‘friends’ are in it for gossip, never there just 1/4 for gossip."
Van Thunen and Riggitano
, she "was graduated from the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising in Manhattan and had just come back from a trip south." Riggitano also had a jewelry company with Van Thunen, called Missfits specializing in bracelets with ethnic beads. However, Van Thunen had written on Wednesday, "Those who incessantly blame others as the cause of their issues should perhaps take a step back and reevaluate these situations. The common thread may be that ‘they’ aren’t the problem, but rather that YOU are.'"
Tinari was upset, telling the Post, "It’s really horrible what happened. I feel really bad for her family. It’s crazy. I feel really bad for her. I never went after her; she went after me," insisting that she didn't know Riggitano prior to their Facebook messages. "She harassed me on Facebook I’m not her friend. She private- messaged me. She sent me messages on January 8 and 9, and I said some things. I told her she needs to leave me alone. The only thing I’m ashamed of is what I said about her overdosing on Xanax. I shouldn’t have said that."
Riggitano apparently objected to Tinari's relationship with her boyfriend Drew Heissenbuttel—Riggitano accused Tinari of ignoring her because she just wanted to "[pick] up your drugs... [Drew's] friends had nothing good to say except you used Drew for his money." In reply to Tinari's suicide suggestion, she wrote, "thats called a threat, and a suicidal threat the police dont take that lightly since the boy in ridgewood killed"—referring to Tyler Clementi—"because of someones words. There are now bullying laws against suicidal threats and words u should of checked that out before sending that." (Heissenbuttel had told Tinari about Riggitano's mental health issues.)
Tinari, who denied the drug allegations, had at one point written, "If you think I have time for your bulls--t think again. I don’t give two s--ts about you. I did not post anything of facebook or instagram for you to see. I cannot believe you think I give a f--k, i have better things to do with my time than to stir the pot with some bitch i dont even know . . . Leave me the f--k alone. I’m not playing these childish games with you. F--k off you pathetic loser."
A source tells the Post that investigators are looking into the bullying angle, "The detectives are going to investigate it, but right now we don’t know whether it was something that just happened in her mind or something that really happened. We really don’t know."
If someone you know exhibits warning signs of suicide: do not leave the person alone, remove any firearms, alcohol, drugs or sharp objects that could be used in a suicide attempt, and call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or take the person to an emergency room or seek help from a medical or mental health professional.
Tagged
alison tinari
ashley riggitano
George Washington Bridge
suicide
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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