Zero chance the chip killed him.

Spicy foods don't actually burn you, they just 'taste' like burning. That's why holding a pepper doesn't hurt your hand.

Spiciness hurts in two places, your mouth and ass. Both of which have taste buds that the molecule interacts with. It's not corrosive.

Even the clickbaity description in the article of the dangers of capsaicin state that the potential esophageal damage is from vomiting, not the chemical.

Barring any allergies or heart problems, the chip didn't do it.

They sell this at 7-11, and I literally did this Sunday to show off to my kids. It's horrible.

I've done the hot ones thing a few times (annual team-building thing at work), but this is different. It's very hot, that's to be expected, but the dryness and the amount of crumbly stuff on it makes it SO much worse. It gets between your teeth, and later when you think it's over and you take a drink, it re-awakens it fully. It was still in my mouth like 30-45 minutes later.

Then I thought I was done so I took a bite of food like 2 hours later...instant stabbing abdominal pain. I found slamming 2 cups of yogurt fixed that (after 10 minutes of pain) then I was good.

I doubt this chip alone killed a kid, but it's not fun especially if you're new to hot challenges.