© Sun ChronicleMichelle Carter and Conrad Roy.
Authorities have accused a Plainville teenager of coldly urging a friend to kill himself last summer, claiming she helped him research how to die from carbon monoxide poisoning and told him to "get back in" his truck when he had second thoughts.
Prosecutors have charged Michelle Carter, 18, with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Conrad Roy III, an 18-year-old from Mattapoisett who committed suicide in a parking lot in July. Carter's lawyer denies the accusation.
Police, who searched Carter and Roy's phones in the investigation, say she was in close contact with Roy in the days and hours before his death, even as she texted friends to say he was missing and that she was worried for his safety.
After writing one friend to say, "I'm losing all hope that he's even alive," Carter texted Roy, "Let me know when you're gonna do it," according to a police report.
Carter, now a senior at King Philip High School, had a "full understanding" of the suicide plan, and in the days leading up to Roy's death
"not only encouraged Conrad to take his own life, she questioned him repeatedly as to when and why he hadn't done it yet," the report said.
Police said she likely spoke on the phone with Roy until he died, yet she continued to text a friend "as if nothing happened."
Carter's lawyer, Joe Cataldo, said the charges were a massive overreach, and that Carter was shocked by the accusation.
"It was his voluntary decision to end his life," he said. "His death was not caused by Michelle Carter."
Cataldo said prosecutors were misusing the state's manslaughter law to punish her for "not preventing a voluntary decision," and predicted Carter would be cleared of the charges.
Conrad Roy, Roy's grandfather, said Friday that he strongly believes Carter was responsible for his son's death.
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