Michelle Carter, who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for urging her boyfriend, Conrad Roy, to kill himself over text in 2014, was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison on Thursday afternoon. According to the Boston Globe, Carter will serve the first 15 months of that sentence, with the rest suspended until August 1, 2022.
Carter sent dozens of texts to Roy just before he committed suicide by closing himself in his truck and breathing in carbon monoxide. But in his ruling, Judge Lawrence Moniz focused on one text in particular — Roy texted Carter that he’d gotten out of the truck, and she told him to “get back in.”
“She instructs Roy to get back in the truck knowing of all the feelings he has exchanged with her; his ambiguities, his fears, his concerns,” Moniz said. “This court finds that by instructing Mr. Roy to get back in the truck constitutes wanton and reckless conduct by Ms. Carter, creating a situation where there is a high degree of likelihood that substantial harm would result to Mr. Roy.”
In sentencing her, Moniz said that he didn’t think Carter’s age (she was 17 at the time), maturity level, or mental illness (she was taking antidepressants) had any significant impact on her actions, according to CBS. But he added that her youth “offers a greater promise of rehabilitation.”
Just before Carter’s sentence was announced, Roy’s family read victim impact statements to the court. “Not a day goes by without him being my first thought when I wake up or last thought when I go to bed,” said his sister, Camden. “Not having that one person I’ve been with every day since birth is a pain I’ll always keep with me.”
