Michelle Carter

Michelle Carter

            Michelle Carter is a 21-year-old lady who encouraged her boyfriend to kill himself when she was at the age of 17. Conard Roy III, at the age of 18, was Carter’s boyfriend, who suffered from depression and had tried to kill himself on another occasion (Fieldstadt). On the day that Roy III died, Carter told Roy to get back into the pickup, which he was committing suicide in by filling it with poisonous fumes. During the trial, Carter pleaded not guilty and opted for a bench trial. The judge decided she was liable for involuntary manslaughter and sentenced her for 15 months and five years’ probation in 2017.

My opinion is that Michelle Carter committed homicide, for she urged her boyfriend, Ray III, to go ahead with his plans of killing himself even after he had second thoughts about going through with his suicide plans. Michelle’s actions are classified as negligent manslaughter, for she urged Roy III to get back in the pickup and go on with his idea of killing himself without knowing whether he would go through with his plan or not though she was on the phone with him as he did it. To me, this should have been charged as criminal manslaughter, for she did not try to prevent the death of Roy III, who needed just a little persuasion to avoid taking his own life, but Cartel opted to see Roy III take his own life.

Work Cited

Fieldstadt, Elisha. “Michelle Carter, Convicted in Texting Suicide Case, Released from Jail.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 1AD, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michelle-carter-convicted-texting-suicide-case-released-jail-n1120411.

Goldscholle, Gerry. “What Is Homicide?” FreeAdvice, criminal-law.freeadvice.com/criminal-law/violent_crimes/offenses_homicide.htm.