Toddler Has Surprising Fear of John Wilkes Booth Being Under Her Bed (Exclusive)

What were you afraid of as a kid?

For Lainey Litton, it’s John Wilkes Booth.

Cassie Litton and her family were in Washington, D.C. for Thanksgiving when they decided to visit the Ford’s Theatre Museum as part of their trip. The Tennessee native talks to PEOPLE exclusively about how the seemingly harmless experience had a lasting impact on her family.

While walking around the museum, Litton told her three-year-old daughter, Lainey, that they were at a historical site and needed to be respectful. 

Cassie then gave Lainey a brief overview of what happened at Ford’s Theatre, noting that someone named John Wilkes Booth had hurt then-president Abraham Lincoln.

“She really held on to that,” Cassie tells us. Although the mother of two tried to explain that it happened a long time ago, Lainey believed the threat was still present. 

“There’s a statue downstairs in the museum part of the theatre. She said, ‘Is that him over there?’ I responded, ‘No, that’s not him. This happened a long time ago,” Cassie tells us. “She was already on edge, so when we went for the presentation, and they were talking about Abraham Lincoln, and how it all went down that day, she just really held on to that.

“She was very fixated on Abraham Lincoln the whole rest of the trip,” she adds.

When they went to the Lincoln Memorial a few days later, Lainey recognized the statue as the man that “got shotted,” Cassie recalls. From that day forward, Lainey had a new fear.

While Cassie says that mentions of Booth are not “an everyday occurrence,” she says it does “tend to find its way into just our day-to-day conversations.”

“We were at church one Sunday, and the preacher was talking about how Jesus loves us. She looked at me, and she said, ‘Mommy, I love Jesus.’ I said, ‘That’s awesome. I’m glad you do,'” Cassie recalls. “She said, ‘Jesus loves us.’ I said, ‘That’s right.’ She said, ‘You know who we don’t love? I said, ‘Who?’ She said, ‘John Wilkes Booth.’ ”

“It’s not something that we tried to bring up to her, but she’s aware that John Wilkes Booth was not a great guy.” 

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Cassie occasionally has to reassure Lainey that Booth is not “in her room” or “under her bed” at night.  

“She was afraid to lie in her bed one night. I said, ‘It’s okay. You’re safe. You’re in your room. Nobody can bother you in your own house.’ She said, ‘Yeah, but what if John Wilkes Booth is under my bed? Like, what if he’s hiding?’ ”

Cassie told Lainey that Booth is not on this planet anymore and that he existed a long time ago. However, to Lainey, “a long time ago” means “yesterday.” While “that made her feel better,” it didn’t quell her obsession with Booth, who died in 1865.

“She said, ‘What if he comes and tries to take my stuffed animals away?’ ”

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Cassie is enjoying sharing Lainey with the world on TikTok. The video that first mentioned Lainey’s fear of Booth went viral, amassing 14.2 million views. The Ford’s Theatre employees saw the video and gifted the family T-shirts and merchandise from the museum.

It turns out, Lainey isn’t the only child with an irrational fear of the long-dead assassin.

Many commentators revealed they also became obsessed with President Lincoln’s death after visiting the famed museum.

“I’m talking to my family and I ask, what three-year-old is aware of John Wilkes Booth? I think, ‘There’s no way that this has happened before,'” Cassie tells PEOPLE. “But, when I posted my TikTok, there were so many comments of ‘I’ve never had an original experience. I was also afraid of John Wilkes Booth.’ ”