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Cassie Covey

Professor York

Freshman Composition 1

07 February 2020

Conrad Roy and Michelle Carter Suicide Encouragement Case

Words have an impact on someone’s life whether it is a positive or negative way. An

incident in Massachusetts in 2014 caused Conrad Roy to commit suicide because of the words

that Michelle Carter said. Conrad Roy was an eighteen year old boy who was in a long distance

relationship with Michelle Carter who was a seventeen year old girl texted each other daily

which eventually led to the death of Roy. Michelle Carter should be convicted of involuntary

manslaughter because of not taking any action to seek help for the both of them due to their

mental health and encouraging Roy to follow through with his actions.

Both teenagers had mental disabilities and were on medication to help treat their

depression. According to a news article, Michelle Carter Might Not Be The Only Thing

Responsible For Conrad Roy’s Death, written by Gabriel Tewksbury from the website, Thought

Catalog, states that both Carter and Roy were on a medication called Celexa when Roy had

killed himself on July, 13, 2014 in his own truck. Carter was denied by the judges money to hire

an expert to explain the effects that were made on her while taking the medicine which caused

her to make the decision to encourage Roy to commit suicide. The mental state of both teenagers

can cause some conflict with who was more at fault due to the fact that Roy had already gotten

help before meeting Carter for his depression. Although his mother Lynn Roy stated that she

“thought he was a little depressed” but “thought he was doing great” and had no warning of her

son committing suicide. In her testimony at the trial for Michelle Carter, Lynn Roy spoke with a
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steady tone until she was asked about the day her son killed himself. The news article, Michelle

Carter Trial: Conrad’s Mother chokes up while testifying about the last day spent together,

written by Dan Glaun, Conrad’s mother softly spoke about the day at the beach with him and his

sisters. Prosecutors wrote about how Roy and his mother “joked about the bathing suits they

saw” along with “how he had gotten a four-year scholarship” into the same college as his best

friend. Lynn Roy stated that “she was unaware of the behavior” of Conrad researching how to

kill himself because she believed he had a bright future. She also mentioned that he believed in

God and was a spiritual boy. There were rosary beads found in his truck after he was found dead.

Michelle Carter had promised Roy that she would be the comfort for his family after his

committing his suicide. Not only did she write to Lynn Roy that Conrad was in a better place and

was no longer hurting but she also suggested having a baseball tournament in his memory.

With both teenagers mental illnesses, it affects their thinking abilities about doing the

right thing and deciding if it is the correct and mature decision to make. Even though Conrad was

depressed and had suffered overdose, he knew he really did not want to go through with his

actions and had been putting them off multiple times. Michelle Carter kept encouraging him to

follow through and stick to his word that he has been telling her for some time now. She knew

what was happening and she knew that her motive was to get attention from others. She got the

attention by not taking action or precautionary actions to prevent Roy for committing suicide in

his truck. As shown as in the news article, All the texts between Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy

the day he died, written by Boston 25 News, Michelle Carter wrote to Conrad Roy a text message

saying “It’s okay, Why haven’t you done it yet tho?” on July,12,2014 at 4:19 am. She starts to

question why he has not already killed himself. He comes back talking about how he is “too

messed” in the head to get in his truck and stop second guessing himself. Later that morning,
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Conrad texted Carter stating how he does not know why he is hesitant to get in his truck and

drive to the planned spot. Michelle Carter kept responding to his questioning with the reasons he

is hesitant is because he is “overthinking”. She wrote in a text message at 9:53 that morning to

Conrad was “you’re ready and prepared. All you have to do is turn the generator on and you will

be free and happy. No more pushing it off, no more waiting” instead of comforting him and

telling him things will become better, and she will help find him some help to get better

physically and mentally. The text messages show that Conrad was unsure what he really wanted

and who he truly wanted to be. Not only was he struggling mentally but so was Michelle Carter

even though she tried to handle the situation on her own, she was needing to seek help for

herself. She peer pressured Conrad to end his life because she did not want to end her own life

because of the pain she saw him in and realized he needed a pain-free life more than she does.

The encouragement of the words whether they were positive like “I love you” which was said

multiple times by the both of them or the negative words like the words of “get back in the truck

and stay until you are dead” which stated by Michelle Carter after Conrad had called her because

he was worried about the pain and worry it was going to cause his family especially his mom.

Despite Conrad Roy choosing to take his own life, Michelle Carter chose to take an initiative to

inform others of the situation like calling the police or his mother to tell them about his location

and the situation of what was happening or even tell Conrad to “get out of the truck” which is

stated in the news article, Michelle Carter text suicide trial verdict:Guilty, written by CBS News.

Also stated in that article was a text message that Carter had written to Roy telling him that

“you’re finally going to be happy in heaven. No more pain”, she later then told him “I thought

you wanted to do this. The time is right and you are ready. Just do it babe. This shows that

Michelle Carter wants Conrad to take his life because she knows how much pain he is in but
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wants him to know that she still cares about him. Not only was that a text the day he died but

another one wrote “You can’t think about it. You just have to do it. You said you were going to

do it. Like I don't get why you aren’t.” which shows that he doesn’t really want to take his own

life anymore because he has pushed it off so many times. Yet, him pushing it off, Carter does not

understand and keeps forcing the situation on him by questioning why he hasn’t done it yet and

what he keeps waiting on. When Conrad Roy decided to go through with his actions and take his

own life, he was on the phone with Michelle Carter while he was waiting. She texted her friend

Olivia Mosolgo a couple days after his death saying that she was on the phone with Conrad when

he killed himself and also she said “I heard him die” according to Olivia’s witness statement.

The words that Michelle Carter have been using are negative words that push one to suicide just

like Conrad Roy did. In the news article, Here’s what Massachusetts Supreme Court justices

asked about suicide-encouragement case, written by Allison Manning questions arose about what

is considered crossing the line when it comes to encouraging a person’s suicide. It is stated that

Michelle Carter did cross the line because she did not seek help for him but she was counseling

him to not worry about his family missing him. There is a difference between a person who is

incurable of seeking help and a person especially a person who is a teenager that is clinically

depressed but does not find the right help. Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy were two teenagers

who both had depression that was not treated with the correct help which caused wrongful

decisions to be made.

In summary, Conrad Roy and Michelle Carter were teenagers that had a long term

relationship through an online texting app. These teenagers were medicated for their depression

and Conrad Roy decided to take his own life with the encouragement of his girlfriend, Michelle

Carter. Michelle Carter was proven guilty and charged with involuntary manslaughter in 2017.
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She was denied parole and was sentenced two and a half years in jail with a fifteen month

sentence to be served and the rest to be suspended. Her sentence came with a reduction and a

five year probation.

Works Cited

D'Angelo, Bob, et al. “All the Texts between Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy the Day He Died.”

WFXT, 9 July 2019, www.boston25news.com/news/all-the-text-messages-between-michelle-

carter-and-conrad-roy-they-day-he-died/532942907/.
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Glaun, Dan. “Michelle Carter Trial: Conrad Roy's Mother Chokes up on the Stand.” Masslive, 6

June 2017, www.masslive.com/news/2017/06/michelle_carter_trial_conrad_r.html.

Manning, Allison. “Here's What Mass. Supreme Court Justices Asked about the Suicide-

Encouragement Case.” Boston.com, The Boston Globe, 7 Apr. 2016,

www.boston.com/news/crime/2016/04/07/heres-what-mass-supreme-court-justices-asked-

about-the-suicide-encouragement-case.

“Michelle Carter Text Suicide Trial Verdict: Guilty.” CBS News, CBS Interactive,

www.cbsnews.com/news/michelle-carter-text-suicide-trial-verdict-guilty/.

Tewksbury, Gabriel. “Michelle Carter Might Not Be The Only Thing Responsible For Conrad

Roy's Death.” Thought Catalog, 12 June 2017, thoughtcatalog.com/gabriel-

tewksbury/2017/06/in-defense-of-michelle-carter-the-teenager-who-urged-her-boyfriend-to-kill-

himself/.