Prosecutors say dozens of text messages offer evidence that Michelle Carter allegedly urged Conrad Roy III to take his own life.
Court documents reveals hundreds of text messages allegedly exchanged by the pair discussed Roy’s desire to kill himself and Carter’s apparent support of his decision.
Text messages allegedly sent by the girlfriend said: “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.” The messages were sent the day the boyfriend parked his truck at a local Kmart and poisoned himself with carbon monoxide, according to an AP report posted by Philly.com.
Prosecutors have charged Carter with involuntary manslaughter in Roy’s death last year. They claim that in the week leading up to Roy’s suicide, Carter was actively involved in the tragic act by pressuring him to kill himself even after the man become frightened about his plan.
Carter’s lawyer has strongly denied the allegations that she encouraged the man to kill himself and asked the judge to dismiss the case.
Roy had a history of depression and attempted suicide two years earlier by swallowing an overdose of acetaminophen.
“You can’t keep living this way. You just need to do it like you did the last time and not think about it and just do it, babe,” Carter allegedly texted.
Carter’s lawyer, Joseph Cataldo, said that Roy had already decided to commit suicide and that Carter did not cause the young man’s death. Roy had devised a plan and had to go through several steps to enact the plan.
“He caused his own death,” Cartaldo said. “He had thought this out. He wanted to take his own life. It’s sad, but it’s not manslaughter.”
Roy spent time in a psychiatric hospital and received counseling after his earlier attempt to end his own life. His family believed that he had been happy about graduating from high school. They had no idea he was planning suicide.
The high school couple met about two years prior in Florida while both were on family vacations. Then, they maintained a long distance relationship being 50 miles apart in Massachusetts. The couple hadn’t seen each other for roughly a year before Roy killed himself.
In contrast to the prosecution’s text messages that seemed to taunt Roy, Cataldo said Carter tried to talk Roy out of killing himself. She only went along with his plan after she could not change her boyfriend’s mind.
She suggested he seek treatment at a psychiatric hospital where she was receiving treatment for an undisclosed condition. Roy refused and suggested that they act like Romeo and Juliet and kill themselves, Cataldo said.
Legal experts say that manslaughter charges may not stick because Massachusetts doesn’t have a law against assisted suicide.
“Causation is going to be a vital part of this case,” Northeastern University law professor Daniel said, according to NECN.com. It may be difficult to prove that Roy may have killed himself anyway.
