Court upholds conviction of Michelle Carter in texting-suicide case
A Massachusetts woman who was convicted of coercing her boyfriend over text messages into killing himself will serve her full sentence following a ruling on Wednesday by the state’s high court.
Michelle Carter’s 15-month sentence handed down in 2017 for involuntary manslaughter had been placed on hold as the Supreme Judicial Court reviewed her appeal. This followed the defense arguing that her actions were not criminal in nature and that Conrad Roy III’s death in 2014 was caused by his own actions.
The 22-year-old has been allowed to remain free while the court reviewed her case.
“The evidence against the defendant proved that, by her wanton or reckless conduct, she caused the victim’s death by suicide,” the court stated in its ruling Wednesday.
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Carter was 17 when she urged 18-year-old Roy, who was suicidal at the time, to kill himself with carbon monoxide from his pickup truck in a Fairhaven parking lot in July of 2014.
When Roy had second thoughts about doing it, Carter texted him to “get back in” his truck and complete what he had set out to do, the Bristol County Juvenile Court heard.
“No more pushing it off. No more waiting,” she at one point texted him.
She was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2017 and ordered to serve 15 months of a 2.5-year sentence.
Carter also faces a $4.2 million wrongful-death lawsuit in Norfolk County Superior Court that was brought by Roy’s mother.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
