A woman from Massachusetts accused of sending her boyfriend text messages encouraging him to kill himself will stand trial in March. Michelle Carter has been charged with manslaughter for the 2014 death of Conrad Roy III, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Roy, who was 18 at the time of his death, was found lifeless in a Kmart parking lot, locked inside his car.
The juvenile Court Judge Lawrence Moniz rejected a plea by Carter’s lawyer, Joseph Cataldo, to push the trial date to April or May so he could prepare a more thorough defense for his client. According to the Boston Herald, the judge immediately shot the request down, refusing to prolong the trial for that long. The accused woman’s lawyer believes there’s a lot to be investigated including Roy’s use of antidepressants.
Carter’s attorneys argue that Celexa could be the key to her defense because the drug is notorious for causing suicidal thoughts. The lawyer also wants to look at the evidence of domestic abuse within Roy’s family, which he believes was the actual factor that pushed him to end his life, rather than Carter’s texts.
There’s a good reason for the judge’s refusal of the delay. In 2014, Carter sent Roy dozens of text messages explicitly urging him to follow through with his suicide. Some of them are bone-chilling, including the tweets she posted after his body was found.
Carter’s texts began by first talking him out of committing suicide, but then they took a dark turn when she texted: “You have to just do it. You have everything you need. There is no way you can fail. Tonight is the night. It’s now or never.”
She went on by texting: “Don’t be scared. You already made this decision and if you don’t do it tonight you’re gonna be thinking about it all the time and stuff all the rest of your life and be miserable. You’re finally going to be happy in heaven. No more pain. No more bad thoughts and worries. You’ll be free.”
When Roy expressed his doubts by saying he was “freaking” for his family, Carter added: “Conrad, I told you I’ll take care of them. Everyone will take care of them to make sure they won’t be alone and people will help them get through it. We talked about this and they will be okay and accept it. People who commit suicide don’t think this much. They just could do it.”
