Lawyer: Woman in suicide texting case did not commit crime
BOSTON — A young woman convicted of involuntary manslaughter for sending text messages encouraging her boyfriend to kill himself did not force him to end his life and cannot be held responsible because of her words alone, her attorney told Massachusetts’ highest court Thursday.
Attorney Daniel Marx said Michelle Carter, now 22, was a misguided teen who encouraged Roy to seek help. But Roy was committed to taking his own life, Marx said, calling it a “tragic decision that he made.”
“There’s no evidence to suggest she thought what she was doing was pushing him into killing himself,” Marx said.
Carter was convicted in a trial last year that drew international attention due to the thorny legal questions and the insistent tone of her text messages to her boyfriend.