Death of Conrad Roy

Conrad Henri Roy III (September 12, 1995 – July 13, 2014) was an American marine salvage captain. His suicide at the age of 18
with encouragement from his long-distance girlfriend, 17-year-old Michelle Carter, was the subject of a noted investigation and
involuntary manslaughter trial in Massachusetts, popularly known as the "texting suicide case". The case, Commonwealth v.
Michelle Carter, involved many text messages, emails, and phone calls between Carter and Roy at the time of Roy's death. Roy had
seen numerous mental health professionalsand insisted he wanted to die. They had both been prescribed psychiatric medication. The
case raised complex questions about criminal responsibility.[1] Carter was convicted by a judge of involuntary manslaughter, who
stated this was due specifically to a final phone call in which, according to Carter's own later text to a friend, she had told Roy to get
back in his truck when he became scared.

Contents
Roy's early life and career
Roy's death
Court proceedings
Background
Legal repercussions
See also
References
External links

Roy's early life and career

Roy was born in 1995 in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts. He was sometimes socially anxious attending school and going into the
classroom. For many years he worked with his father, grandfather, and uncle in his family's marine salvage business, Tucker-Roy
Marine Towing and Salvage, Inc. in the New England area. In the Spring of 2014 he earned his captain's license from the Northeast
[2] In June 2014 he graduated on the Honor Roll (highest grades) from
Maritime Institute by completing three months of night classes.
Old Rochester Regional High School (ORR) in Mattapoisett. He was an all-around high school athlete who played baseball, rowed
crew, and ran track. He graduated with a 3.88 GPA and had been accepted to Fitchburg State University to study business, but at that
point had decided not to go.[3][4]

Roy struggled with social anxiety and depression for which he had seen several therapists and counselors, including a cognitive
behavioral therapist in the weeks prior to his death. He had been hospitalized for an acetaminophen (paracetamol) overdose at the age
[2][3]
of 17; he was talking to a girl he had met in a group and she called the police.

Roy's death
On Sunday, July 13, 2014, following digital exchanges with Carter while interacting with his family, Roy committed suicide by
poisoning himself with carbon monoxide fumes in his truck in the now-closed Kmart parking lot in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. She
attended a different high school, King Philip Regional High School, in Wrentham, Massachusetts. They had met on family vacation
f communication, meeting only a few times.[3]
in Florida several years prior and had maintained on-of

Roy's Memorial Mass was celebrated on Saturday, July 19, 2014, at St. Anthony's Church in Mattapoisett. The Captain Conrad H.
Roy III Scholarship Fund at the Northeast Maritime Institute inFairhaven, Massachusetts, was established in his memory.[5]
Court proceedings
Michelle Carter was indicted on February 4, 2015, and arraigned the following day
Commonwealth v .
at in New Bedford Juvenile Court on charges of involuntary manslaughter in
Michelle Carter
Taunton, Massachusetts. The grand jury found enough to charge her with "wantonly
and recklessly" assisting the suicide. She was 17 at the time and the court indicted Court Massachusetts
her as a 'youthful offender' rather than a 'juvenile', meaning she could be sentenced Supreme Judicial Court
as if an adult.[6][7] Decided June 16, 2017
Citation(s) No. 15YO0001NE
In May 2015, Roy's family were upset by pictures posted on social media by Gail
Carter, despite a court order, showing her daughter Michelle in a prom dress and on Court membership
a trip to Orlando taking part in a DECA schools competition which included visiting Judge Lawrence Moniz
Walt Disney World.[8][7] sitting (Bristol County Juvenile
Court)
In June 2015 a district court judge denied a defense motion to remove the Bristol
County District Attorney’s office from the prosecution because DA Thomas M. Quinn III is a third cousin of Conrad Roy and first
cousin to Roy’s grandmother Janice Roy. Quinn had already handed the case over to his Deputy DA William McCauley.[9] On July 1,
2016 an appeal heard by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court was also denied, on the basis that there was probable cause,
allowing the case to go forward.[10][11]

The day before trial was due to start on June 6, 2017, Carter waived her right to jury trial and therefore the case was heard by Hon.
Lawrence Moniz in the Bristol County Juvenile Court of Massachusetts, in Taunton.[12][13] Carter was represented by Joseph P.
Cataldo and Cory Madera.[14] It is believed to be the first involuntary manslaughter trial in Massachusetts related to texting to
[15][16]
encourage suicide [citation needed ] though there have been a few related cases.

On June 16, 2017, Judge Lawrence Moniz of the Bristol County Juvenile Court of Massachusetts, in Taunton found Carter legally
guilty of involuntary manslaughter.[17][18][19][14] He stated prior to his ruling that it was Carter's phone calls with Roy when he was
in his truck gassing himself (as described by Carter's texts to friends), rather than the preceding text messages, that caused him to go
through with killing himself.[20]

This decision "could set legal precedent for whether it's a crime to tell someone to commit suicide."[21] Carter remains free on
bail[22] until her sentencing on August 3. She can neither leave Massachusetts nor apply for a passport without explicit permission
from a judge. She was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for manslaughter
, though she faced up to 20years.

In April 2016 Roy's mother Lynn reportedly said she was not sure what she wanted to happen to Carter, referring to an interaction
between two unwell people and that Carter could have saved him.[23] After the guilty verdict Roy's father stated publicly that the
family were pleased with the verdict but that they wanted privacy and time to process the events they have experienced; Lynn Roy
appeared on the CBS '48 Hours' show saying she didn't believe Carter had a conscience and that she knew exactly what she was
doing.[24]

On August 3, 2017, Judge Lawrence Moniz sentenced Carter to serve a two-and-a-half-year term, with 15 months to be served in the
Bristol County House of Corrections, the rest of the balance suspended, and five years of probation to be served.[25][26] Soon after
the sentencing was handed down, Carter's lawyers asked Judge Moniz to issue a stay of the sentence until all of Carter's
Massachusetts court appeals options are exhausted. In a surprise ruling, Judge Moniz granted the stay with conditions that Carter stay
away from the Roy family.[27]

Background
Michelle Carter and then 16-year-old Conrad Roy met one another in Florida in Michelle Carter
2012 while each had been visiting relatives. After this initial encounter, they saw
Born August 11, 1996
each other in person again only once or twice over the course of three years, despite
Plainville,
Massachusetts
having lived only about 35 miles away from each other in the Boston suburbs.[3][28] Status Free while sentence
[29]
Instead, they mostly exchanged text messages and emails. is appealed

Roy also made some videos of himself talking to camera, which formed an Criminal 2.5-years reduced
important part of the case.[30] penalty to 15-months plus 5-
years probation
Carter was born on August 11, 1996, in Massachusetts to Gail and David Carter. She
Conviction(s) Involuntary
went to King Philip Regional High School, Wrentham. She had developed an eating
manslaughter
disorder from the age 8 or 9, may have injured herself by cutting,[31] was on
prescription psychiatric medication from the age of 14, and attended counseling at
McLean Hospital in Belmont.[32][33]

According to court documents, Roy had allegedly been physically hit by his father and verbally abused by his grandfather, and tried
[34][29] After learning that he was planning to kill himself,
to kill himself in October 2012 while despondent after his parents divorced.
Carter repeatedly discouraged him from committing suicide in 2012 and 2014 and encouraged him to "get professional help".
However, her attitude changed in July 2014, when she started thinking that it would be a "good thing to help him die".[29] In June,
[35]
Roy had texted Carter suggesting they act likeRomeo and Juliet, checking that she understood they had each killed themselves.

Prosecutors claimed that Carter had sought public attention from her boyfriend's death, and their putative relationship was almost
entirely online rather than in-person. The suggestibility and vulnerability of Roy
, a minor at the time, has been an issue.

Carter's defense lawyers argued that Roy had a history of suicide attempts and the decision to end his life was his own,[36] that Carter
was "bewildered" over the case against her, and that, "Taking all the texts in context, she tried to talk him out of it... ."[37] They
argued in initial hearings that the defendant had broken no law and had been a first amendment right to free speech, and that at that
time she was a juvenile.

Roy had also been taking Celexa for some time.[38] In the United States, citalopram carries a boxed warning stating it may increase
suicidal thinking and behavior in those under age 24. In 2016 the judge had refused the defense's request for funds to hire an expert
on Celexa, describing it as 'speculative'.[39][40][41]

Legal repercussions
The case is expected by some to set a legal precedent.[42] "The ruling... may spur lawmakers tocodify the behavior highlighted in the
case as criminal."[21] The judge had noted that Carter had willed Roy's death, that she did not order him out of the truck and that her
actions "put him in that toxic environment" which "constituted reckless conduct" and "that the conduct caused the death of Mr.
Roy."[21] In effect, her actions led to his death and that hercomplicity did not falter.[citation needed ]

While, per U.S. law, the lower-court decision cannot bind other courts,[43] legal professionals believe it could have a social effect by
raising other courts' attention to new, digital methods of committing crimes.[44] The case also attempts to redefine the social spectrum
[45]
and which attitudes and behaviors would qualify as criminal that were not considered criminal before, though considered tragic.

Carter was sentenced to 2.5 years (30 months) in prison but to serve 15 months (1.25 years).

See also
Assisted suicide
Complicity
Internet suicide pact
Social media and suicide
Suicidality
Suicide of Megan Meier
William Francis Melchert-Dinkel
Suicide of Phoebe Prince
References
1. "5 Things to Know: The Teen Girl Who Allegedly Urged Her Boyfriend to Kill Himself Via Texts" (http://people.com/cri
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2. mlawrence@s-t.com, Mike Lawrence."Court filing reopens wound for family of Conrad Roy III"(http://www.southcoa
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(http://ww
w.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/06/michelle_carter_trial_conrad_r.html). masslive.com. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
5. Obituary for Conrad Henri Roy III(http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Conrad-Henri-Roy-101530417)
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(https://www.bostonglobe.com/met
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7. "Trial Begins for Teen Accused of Urging Boyfriend to Suicide"(https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/lists/trial-begins-
for-teen-accused-of-urging-boyfriend-to-suicide-w485803). Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
8. Warren, L. Teen who faces 20 years behind bars 'for encouraging friend to kill himself'
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne
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trial.html) goes to Disney World and prom ahead of manslaughter trial. Daily Mail. Published: 08:39 EDT
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22. Michelle Carter leaving court after manslaughter conviction: http://bit.ly/2sy32R
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1/for-conrad-roys-mother-his-suicide-isnt-just-a-controversial-case). Boston.com. 2016-04-11. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
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External links
Obituary page for Captain Conrad H. Roy III, July 13, 2014
'Remembering Conrad Roy' Facebook page
Commonwealth's (New Bedford Juvenile Court) Response to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, August 2015
Michelle Carter Appellant Brief, March 2016
Supreme Court affirms decision, July 2016
Decision of Trial Judge, June 2017
20/20 Documentary on ABC
Can words kill? Guilty verdict in texting suicide trial raises questions

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