The question of who is to blame in the event of a suicide is something that is often brought up in popular culture, debates and the media. When the tragic story of the bullying and suicide of Amanda Todd went viral around the world, more efforts were made in order to try and prevent teen suicide and put in measures to help those. But it also raises questions of responsibility and whether others should be given responsibility for their actions or whether the victim should be held accountability for making the choice. This case of the long distance relationship between 17 year old Michelle Carter and 18 year old Conrad Roy upholds this debate and whether someone should be held criminally responsible for what they say in regards to teen suicide.
Conrad Roy was a young man living in New Bedford Massachusetts, born in 1995 – he suffered from social anxiety, especially surrounding school and being in the classroom and therefore struggled. However, he was close with his family, often working alongside his father and grandfather in their marine salvaging business. In 2014, he earned his captain's license after attending three months worth of night school and graduated on the honour roll of his high school – he was a star athlete who played baseball and ran track. Although he had been accepted to do a degree in business, he declined the offer and decided not to pursue higher education.
Conrad's mental health, however, was deeply worrying. Alongside his social anxiety, Conrad also suffered from depression and was very hard on himself about his achievements and what he wanted to do with his life. When he was 16, his parents divorced, which hit him hard and left him struggling to cope. His friends often noted that they would have a lot of conversations that would quickly turn dark, talking about a darkness surrounding him and how he felt isolated.
When he was 17, Conrad had messaged a friend, Aryanna Taylor, telling her that he had overdosed in a suicide attempt. He was rushed to hospital. He had overdosed on a drug called acetaminophen, and had asked his friend to contact his mother, who believes this was his way of calling out for help with his mental help. He was put on anti-depressants, a drug called Celexa, and was getting professional help to deal with his problems. The future was slowly starting to look brighter as time went on, until he met Michelle Carter.
Michelle Carter was a girl that Conrad had met while he was on vacation with his family in 2012. The two eventually started a relationship, which became a long distance one after the vacation had ended. As was the case with long distance relationships, most of their interactions were over the phone through text and they were rarely able to see each other face to face.
To those that didn't know Michelle Carter, they would have described her as a friendly, normal teenager, who was active and always able to brighten up someone's day. She was well-liked by her fellow students. But there was more to her than meets the eye. Her and Conrad had many things in common: she was also on antidepressants and was dealing with an eating disorder. Both struggled with mental health issues, which would eventually takes its toll with Conrad.
On Saturday July 12th 2014, Conrad seemed normal, according to his family, and that he wanted to go the beach with his two younger sisters. However, his sisters noted that he seemed distracted by his phone, most likely texting Michelle, seeming agitated and anxious. He had taken his sisters out to ice cream later, however, and his mood seemed to have lifted. He returned the girls home and he left his house at 6pm, telling his family that he was leaving to go to a friend's house. That was the last time his family spoke to him.
On Sunday July 13th 2014, while interacting with Michelle through text, Conrad parked in the parking lot of a closed K-Mart and poisoned himself with carbon monoxide fumes in his truck in an attempt on his life. Sadly, the attempt worked and he died.
During the night, Conrad's sister, Camryn, received a text from Michelle, asking if she knew where Conrad was and that they were in fact boyfriend and girlfriend, a fact which Camryn herself was not aware of. It was supposedly unlike Conrad to not come home until the middle of the night and that something may have been wrong. In the morning, she searched his friend's houses and their Dad's but there was no sign anywhere.
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True Crime Database
Non-FictionFrom the words of a soon to be Detective Inspector and her laptop... This is where I like to document true crime cases that are unknown on a certain level but interesting all the same. Any and all requests are welcome. Also thank you to @kieblue fo...