Breaking: Michelle Carter; Woman who 'encouraged' boyfriend to kill himself jailed
Channel: Samuel David
Date: 2017-08-03

A woman who encouraged her suicidal boyfriend to kill himself in dozens of text messages has been jailed for 15 months for involuntary manslaughter.

Michelle Carter told Conrad Roy III to "get back in" a truck filled with carbon monoxide, and a judge in June said her final instruction had caused the 18-year-old's death in July 2014.

A juvenile court judge in Massachusetts, Lawrence Moniz, sentenced Carter to a two-year jail sentence, but said she only had to serve 15 months behind bars.

She was also sentenced to five years of probation.

Mr Roy's family told the court they were devastated by his death.

His father, Conrad Roy Jr, said it was the "worst emotional pain" he has ever experienced, adding: "I am heartbroken."

Camden Roy, Conrad's 13-year-old sister, said she is "haunted" by the realisation she will never see her brother marry or be an aunt to his children.

Image:Conrad Roy III had attempted suicide several times. Pic: Janice Roy

Joseph Cataldo, defending, said Carter - who was 17 at the time of Mr Roy's death - was struggling with mental health issues during the time she urged him to kill himself.

He said: "Miss Carter will have to live with the consequences of this for the rest of her life.

"This was a horrible circumstance that she completely regrets."

The prosecution had sought the maximum sentence of 20 years' imprisonment.

In a text on the day he died, Carter had wrote: "The time is right and you are ready... just do it babe."

In another message, she wrote: "You can't think about it. You just have to do it. You said you were gonna do it. Like I don't get why you aren't."

Judge Moniz said Carter's final message constituted "wanton and reckless conduct" under the manslaughter statute.

The pair met in Florida in 2012 while they were both on holiday with their families. After that, they only met in person a handful of times and communicated through texts.

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