Michelle Carter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after being charged with encouraging her boyfriend to kill himself in a series of text messages.
The conviction was handed out Friday by Bristol County, Massachusetts, Juvenile Court Judge Lawrence Moniz, who said that the 20-year-old defendant was responsible for the death of Conrad Roy III, who was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in his pickup truck in 2014, reported The Washington Post.
"This court has found that Carter’s actions and failure to act where it was her self-created duty to Roy since she put him in that toxic environment constituted reckless conduct," Moniz said, according to CNN. "The court finds that the conduct caused the death of Mr. Roy."
Carter, who was 17 at the time of the suicide, was visibly distraught as she received the news.
Hundreds of text messages presented as evidence showed that Carter urged the suicide, telling her boyfriend that all he had to do was turn the generator on and he would be free and happy, CNN reported.
Roy was allegedly harbouring suicidal thoughts on the day of his death. He drove his truck miles away from home to carry out the act but it is believed that he started to doubt the decision.
This led him to contact Carter, who reportedly encouraged him to get back into his truck.
Carter could face up to 20 years in prison, and her sentencing is scheduled to take place on Aug. 3.
The case gained widespread attention from legal experts and the public.
"Given the expansive definition of manslaughter under Massachusetts law, the guilty verdict is not a surprise," CNN legal analyst Danny Cevallos said.
"Still, this verdict is concerning because it reflects a judicial willingness to expand legal liability for another person's suicide, an act which by definition is a completely independent choice," he said. "Historically, suicide has been considered a superseding act which breaks the chain of legal causation."
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