Teen who 'pressured her boyfriend into suicide' to face trial in October

Michelle Carter, who was 17 when her boyfriend committed suicide, has been facing trial due to the texts she sent him before he died


The two were 17 and 18 when Conrad Roy took his own life Photo: Facebook

Texts from Michelle Carter have revealed her possible part in the tragic suicide of her boyfriend, Conrad Roy. The teen, who was 17 at the time of his death, has been accused of manipulating him into committing suicide.

She knew how her texts would look to prosecutors, and the family of her late boyfriend - texting her friend: “[If the police] read my messages with him I’m done. His family will hate me and I can go to jail,” after her partner, 18, took his own life.

Before he died, she pretended to her friends that he had gone missing, all the while exchanging hundreds of texts with him.

“You’re finally going to be happy in heaven. No more pain,” she told him in one message. “It’s okay to be scared and it’s normal. I mean, you’re about to die.”

Many of her messages to him seemed to imply that Roy, who had previously attempted suicide, would be better off dead.

If he wavered in his resolve to commit suicide, Carter replied forcefully. More texts read: “You always say you’re gonna do it, but you never do,” Carter complained. “I just want to make sure tonight is the real thing.”

“You can’t keep pushing it off, though. That’s all you keep doing.”

His grandmother told WBZ that although Roy was depressed he "seemed to be pulling out of it". She said when she heard of the texts: “I felt like the blood drained out of me. I don’t believe this, it’s too horrific.”

The district attorney's office said: “It is alleged that Ms. Carter had firsthand knowledge of Roy’s suicidal thoughts. Instead of attempting to assist him or notify his family or school officials, Ms. Carter is alleged to have strongly influenced his decision to take his own life, encouraged him to commit suicide and guided him in his engagement of activities which led to his death.”

The two met in 2012, and struck up a relationship that was mainly conducted online and by text message.

Carter researched how Roy could kill himself, and sent him details about different ways he could do so.

After his death, Carter became an advocate for mental health, writing on Facebook: “Even though I could not save my boyfriend’s life, I want to put myself out here to try to save as many other lives as possible,” and organising events in memory of her late boyfriend.

A judge will decide whether Carter will face charges for his death. She will appear in court again on the 2nd of October.

Telegraph