Cruel girlfriend listened to her depressed boyfriend ‘choke and die’

A YOUNG woman who encouraged her boyfriend to kill himself by bombarding him with sick texts "listened to him choke and die" in his fume filled truck.

Michelle Carter's cruel actions caused Conrad Roy to die in a deserted car park nearly five years ago as carbon dioxide filled his vehicle, appeal judges have ruled.

Carter, now 22, was sentenced to 15 months in jail, but has remained free while she pursues her appeal.

But in a unanimous decision yesterday the Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts upheld a conviction of involuntary manslaughter reached in 2017.

A spokesman for the Bristol County District Attorney's office said it will file a motion in the coming days asking the trial court to impose Carter's jail sentence now that the state high court has ruled.

District Attorney Thomas Quinn III said: "This case is a tragedy for all of the people impacted by this case.

"However, as the court found in two separate decisions, her conduct was wanton and reckless, and caused the death of Conrad Roy."

'DIDN'T HELP AND LISTENED TO HIM DIE'
Explaining his decision to reject the appeal, Justice Scott Kafker wrote: "After she convinced him to get back into the carbon monoxide filled truck, she did absolutely nothing to help him.

"She did not call for help or tell him to get out of the truck as she listened to him choke and die."

Carter's lawyers said in an email that they are disappointed in the ruling and will consider appealing to the US Supreme Court, among other legal options.

Carter, now 22, was sentenced to 15 months in jail - but has remained free while she pursues her appeals.

She and Roy both lived in Massachusetts but met in Florida in 2012 while both were on holiday with their families.

Their relationship consisted mainly of texting and other electronic communications.

Both teens struggled with depression, with Carter also being treated for anorexia while Roy had made earlier suicide attempts.

Carter was 17 when Roy, 18, took his own life in Fairhaven, a town on Massachusetts' south coast in July 2014.

The juvenile court judge who convicted Carter in 2017 said she caused Roy's death when she told him to get back in his truck as it filled with gas.

He had climbed out as it was filling up, telling her he was scared.

The judge said Carter had a duty to call the police or Roy's family when she knew he was killing himself.

The teen’s handwritten suicide note read: “This life has been too challenging and troublesome to me but I’ll forever be in your heart and we will meet up someday in Heaven."

He told Carter to “keep strong” and “hold her chin up” - adding that he was “sorry about everything”.

A motion will be filed in the coming days asking the trial court to impose Carter's jail sentence now that the state high court has ruled.

District Attorney Thomas Quinn said in a statement: "As the court found in two separate decisions, her conduct was wanton and reckless, and caused the death of Conrad Roy."