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Taunton, Massachusetts: A woman who encouraged her suicidal boyfriend to kill himself in dozens of text messages and told him to "get back in" a truck filled with toxic gas has been sentenced to 15 months in jail for involuntary manslaughter.
Michelle Carter was convicted in June by a judge who said her final instruction to Conrad Roy III caused his death.
A woman who encouraged her suicidal boyfriend to kill himself in dozens of text messages has been sentenced to 15 months in jail for involuntary manslaughter.
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A woman who encouraged her suicidal boyfriend to kill himself in dozens of text messages has been sentenced to 15 months in jail for involuntary manslaughter.
Carter was 17 when the 18-year-old Roy was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in July 2014.
Juvenile Court judge Lawrence Moniz on Thursday gave Carter a two-and-a-half-year jail sentence but said she had to serve only 15 months of that. He also sentenced her to five years of probation.
Carter's lawyer, Joseph Cataldo, asked the judge to spare his client any jail time and instead give her five years of probation and require her to receive mental health counselling.
He said Carter was struggling with mental health issues of her own - bulimia, anorexia and depression - during the time she urged Roy to kill himself.
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Prosecutor Maryclare Flynn sought the maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars.
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In dozens of text messages, Carter had urged Roy to follow through on his talk of taking his own life. "The time is right and you are ready ... just do it babe," Carter wrote in a text the day he killed himself.
Michelle Carter listens to testimony at Taunton District Court in Taunton, Massachusetts. Photo: AP
In convicting Carter, the judge focused his ruling on Carter telling Roy to "get back in" after he climbed out of his truck as it was filling with carbon monoxide and told her he was afraid.
The judge said those words constituted "wanton and reckless conduct" under the manslaughter statute.
Conrad Roy jnr, the father of the late Conrad Roy III, at Taunton Juvenile Court. Photo: AP
Carter and Roy met in Florida in 2012 while both were on vacation with their families. After that, they only met in person a handful of times. Their relationship consisted mainly of texting.
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.