The woman who encouraged her suicidal boyfriend to kill himself via a series of text messages has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail, with a 15 month non-parole period.
Michelle Carter, now 20, was 17 when she sent a series of texts to 18-year-old boyfriend Conrad Roy III, resulting in his suicide.
She was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in June, with a judge finding that her final text message to Roy caused his death.
Prosecutor Maryclare Flynn had asked the judge to send Carter to prison for seven to 12 years.
However her lawyer, Joseph Cataldo, had asked Judge Lawrence Moniz to spare his client any jail time, instead asking for five years probation and for her to receive mental health counselling. He said the Carter was struggling with bulimia, anorexia and depression when she committed the crime.
“Miss Carter will have to live with the consequences of this for the rest of her life,” he said. “This was a horrible circumstance that she completely regrets.”
Carter had sent Roy dozens of text messages, encouraging him to “get back in” to his truck as it was filling with carbon monoxide.
“The time is right and you are ready… just do it babe,” she said in one.
“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,” she said in another.
“I still don’t think ur gonna do this so you have to prove me wrong.”
Moniz said those words constituted “wanton and reckless conduct” under the manslaughter statute.
Carter has also been sentenced to five years parole. However, thanks to a defence motion granted by Moniz, she will not face jail until her appeals in Massachusetts courts are exhausted.
