![]() ![]() She also did not testify in her defense at the trial. In text messages sent in the days leading up to Roy’s death, Carter also encouraged Roy to follow through with his suicide plan and chastised him when he didn’t, Massachusetts courts found.Ĭarter opted for a bench trial, an unusual legal strategy that meant a judge decided her fate rather than a jury. The phone call wasn’t recorded, but the judge relied on a text Carter sent a different friend in which she said she had told Roy to “get back in.” It also sparked legislative proposals in Massachusetts to criminalize suicide coercion.Ī judge determined that Carter, who was 17 at the time, caused Roy's death when she ordered him in a phone call to get back in his carbon monoxide-filled truck. Michelle Carter caseĬarter’s case garnered national attention, as it raised thorny legal questions about free speech and provided a disturbing look at teenage relationships and depression. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter. Get updates on what's happening in the Boston area to your inbox. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning and police found a gasoline-operated water pump in the back seat.Ĭarter reportedly texted him to "get back in" the car when he told her that he didn't know if he wanted to take his life, according to prosecutors. If you are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 80 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting 'Home' to 741741.Roy's body was found in his pickup in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on July 13, 2014. ![]() Her phone call with Roy wasn't recorded, but prosecutors pointed to a rambling text that Carter sent to a friend two months later in which she said called Roy's death her fault and said she told Roy to "get back in" the truck. They also argued there wasn't enough evidence to prove that Carter told Roy to get back in his truck. Her appellate attorneys said there was no evidence that Roy would have lived if Carter had called for help. Her attorney said Roy was determined to kill himself and nothing Carter did could change that. "After she convinced him to get back into the carbon monoxide filled truck, she did absolutely nothing to help him: she did not call for help or tell him to get out of the truck as she listened to him choke and die," Supreme Judicial Court Justice Scott Kafker wrote in the court's opinion affirming her conviction.Īt trial, Carter's lawyer argued Carter had initially tried to talk Roy out of suicide and encouraged him to get help. The judge said Carter had a duty to call the police or Roy's family, but instead listened on the phone as he died. The juvenile court judge focused his guilty verdict on the fact that Carter told Roy over the phone to get back in his truck when it was filling with carbon monoxide. It's always gonna be that way if u don't take action," Carter texted him he on the day he died. "You keep pushing it off and say you'll do it but u never do. As Roy made excuses to put off his plans, her texts became more insistent.Ībbey Niezgoda spoke with the aunt of Conrad Roy, the boy who died by suicide after exchanging texts with his girlfriend, Michelle Carter. In dozens of text messages revealed during her sensational trial, Carter pushed Roy to end his life and chastised him when he hesitated. Their relationship consisted mostly of texting and other electronic communications. Her case garnered international attention and provided a disturbing look at teenage depression and suicide.Ĭarter and Roy both struggled with depression, and Roy had previously tried to kill himself. She also said that the Supreme Court decision brings finality to the case and peace to the family.Ĭarter was 17 when Roy, 18, took his own life in Fairhaven, a town on Massachusetts' south coast in July 2014. Roy's aunt said the family received a letter in the mail alerting them to the early release. Her early release is due to good behavior. "I hope that the finality of this decision brings some solace to them," Quinn said in a statement, adding later, "I am very pleased that the legal chapter of this tragic case is finally closed."Ĭarter is expected to be released from Bristol County Jail this month, less than a year after she began her 15-month sentence. It’s been more than a week since Michelle Carter started serving her prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter.īristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said Monday that the Supreme Court's decision is the latest judicial action to validate the decision to charge Carter and brings closure to Roy's family.
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