Learn English – Word for someone who feels complete again, but not in the same way as they once were

"Scapegoating" describes the action of the mother and the commenters, as in:

"The crowd "scapegoated" the energy drink for the girl's death, barring any factual evidence to prove that claim."

From Google Dictionary:

noun: scapegoat; plural noun: scapegoats

1. (in the Bible) a goat sent into the wilderness after the Jewish chief priest had symbolically laid the sins of the people upon it (Lev. 16). A person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency.

synonyms: whipping boy; more informal: fall guy, patsy

"find yourself another scapegoat"

verb: scapegoat; 3rd person present: scapegoats; past tense: scapegoated; past participle: scapegoated; gerund or present participle: scapegoating

1. make a scapegoat of.

Consider sly. It has connotations of being underhanded and playful.

1. Having or showing a cunning and deceitful nature.
   ‘a sly, manipulative woman’
   _{cunning, crafty, clever, wily, artful, guileful, tricky, conniving, scheming, devious, designing, deceitful, duplicitous, dishonest, disingenuous, underhand, sneaky, untrustworthy}

   1.1 Showing in an insinuating way that one has some secret knowledge that may be harmful or embarrassing.
   ‘he gave a sly grin’
   _{roguish, mischievous, impish, puckish, playful, teasing, naughty, wicked, waggish}

   1.2 (of an action) surreptitious.
   ‘a sly sip of water’
   _{surreptitious, furtive, stealthy, covert, secret}

_{Oxford Living Dictionaries}