Michelle Carter Found Guilty Of Involuntary Manslaughter Of Conrad Roy III In Texting Suicide Trial

Michelle Carter, 20, was found guilty today for involuntary manslaughter of Conrad Roy III three years ago.

MICHELLE CARTER FOUND GUILTY

Roy took his own life at age 18 with the encouragement of his then-girlfriend Carter, then 17. He locked himself in his garage with his truck engine running and died of suffocation from carbon monoxide. Carter was texting him and, despite Roy showing second thoughts and even leaving the car at one point, she told him to get back in his truck.

“This court finds that instructing Mr. Roy to get back in the truck constituted wanton and reckless conduct,” said Judge Lawrence Moniz. Carter will be charged as a youthful offender, meaning that despite being a minor at the time of her crime, she is being charged as an adult. Her sentencing is set for Aug. 3 and she could face up to 20 years in prison.

Carter’s text messages were used as evidence, which clearly showed her goading Roy to take his own life. “I do blame myself, it’s my fault. I was talking to him while he killed himself,” reads one of her texts to a classmate. Another reads, “I’m done. His family will hate me and I could go to jail.”

In addition to her encouragement, Carter also knew the location of Roy and his truck, and failed to alert any authorities, or Roy’s family members. Carter’s defense team tried to argue that Roy was suicidal for years before committing the act, and likely would have taken his own life regardless of Carter’s help. “Even if somebody supports another individual in a suicide, it doesn’t create a homicide,” the defense added.

Prosecutor Maryclare Flynn said that Carter “used Conrad as a pawn in a sick game of life and death for attention.” Several classmates testified that they believed this to be true.