Michelle Carter, Convicted of Urging Boyfriend’s Suicide, Is Denied Parole
‘LACKED SINCERITY’
Michelle Carter, the Massachusetts woman convicted of encouraging her boyfriend to kill himself in 2014, was denied parole Friday by a state board. Carter was convicted in 2017 of involuntary manslaughter in the death of her boyfriend, 18-year-old Conrad Roy III. The 22-year-old woman, who was 17 at the time of Roy’s death by suicide after filling the inside of his pickup truck with fumes, began her 15-month prison sentence in February.
“The [board] is troubled that Ms. Carter not only encouraged [Conrad Roy III] to take his own life, she actively prevented others from intervening in his suicide,” the parole board wrote. “Ms. Carter’s self-serving statements and behavior, leading up to and after his suicide, appear to be irrational and lacked sincerity.”
The board added that Carter, who texted Roy to “get back in” the truck when he had second thoughts, needs to address the “causative effects” that led to the offense. “Release does not meet the legal standard,” the board concluded. Carter is still set to get out of jail at least two months early because she is a “model” prisoner, officials said Thursday.