BOSTON – The Latest on the trial of a woman charged with manslaughter for sending text messages to her boyfriend encouraging him to kill himself (all times local):
4:10 p.m.
A judge has reached a verdict in the trial of a Massachusetts woman charged with manslaughter for sending her boyfriend dozens of text messages encouraging him to kill himself.
A court clerk said Judge Lawrence Moniz will announce his decision Friday in Bristol Juvenile Court in the trial of Michelle Carter.
Carter is charged in the suicide of her 18-year-old boyfriend, Conrad Roy III. Roy was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning inside his truck in 2014.
Prosecutors say the then-17-year-old Carter relentlessly badgered Roy through texts to act on his suicidal thoughts. They also say she told Roy to "get back in" his truck after he became frightened and got out.
Carter's lawyer says she tried to talk Roy out of suicide for months, but he was determined to kill himself.
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This story has been corrected to show the first name of the suicide victim is Conrad, not Carter.
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12:25 a.m.
A juvenile court judge finds himself at the center of a legal quagmire in a case that provides a disturbing look at teen depression and suicide.
Judge Lawrence Moniz is deliberating the fate of Michelle Carter. The Massachusetts woman is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the 2014 suicide of her boyfriend, Conrad Roy III.
Prosecutors allege that Carter caused Roy's death by relentlessly badgering him with text messages urging him to kill himself.
Carter's lawyers say Roy had made up his mind to take his own life and Carter did not cause his death.
The case is being closely watched in the legal community. If the judge convicts Carter of manslaughter, it could set a legal precedent in Massachusetts. The state does not have a law against encouraging someone to kill themselves.
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