The hashtag #JusticeForConrad has recently gone viral after news broke of a Massachusetts young man committing suicide—all with his girlfriends encouragement. Michelle Carter is now being charged for involuntary manslaughter after text messages were revealed that she guided Conrad Roy to suicide.
The young woman appeared in court on Monday in New Bedford, Massachusetts where thousands of text messages between the teen and her deceased boyfriend were read. The messages revealed Carter convincing her 18-year-old partner that suicide was the only option for him. One of the text messages read: “You said you were gonna do it. I don’t get like why you aren’t.” Roy's response to his girlfriend was: “I don’t get it either. I don’t know.”
The defense has asserted that Carter was also in a troubled place during the text message exchanges that primarily occurred during July. They also argue that the teen was "brainwashed."
“The government is harping, if you will, on her saying when are you going to do it? When are you going to do it?” said Joseph Cataldo in court, who is Carter’s attorney. “What they are not harping on are all the times she said don’t do it, don’t do it.”
This was not Roy's first attempt at suicide, as he was suffering from depression for some time. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning at a local shopping plaza.
Roy was on the phone with Carter as he died. She reportedly told a friend that she listened to him as he cried in pain.
The next court date for Michelle Carter is October 2, where a judge will determine whether or not charges against the teen will be dropped. She is being tried as an adult and could potentially face up to 20 years in prison if she were to be convicted.
[via WTVR]
