Warning: the details of this story are disturbing.
In a case immediately evoking the one that got Michelle Carter convicted, a 21-year-old former Boston College student has been charged with with involuntary manslaughter for repeatedly encouraging her boyfriend to take his own life. Inyoung You repeatedly told Alexander Urtula, 22, that he should “go kill himself” and “go die” while knowing that he was suffering from depression and suicidal ideations, the Suffolk County District Attorney alleged Monday.
Urtula died by suicide on May 20, 2019, the morning he was supposed to graduate from Boston College with a biology degree; You tracked Urtula’s location and was present at the Renaissance parking garage in Roxbury, Mass. when he jumped to his death, the DA’s office said.
According to prosecutors, You, who returned to South Korea and will be extradited if she does not voluntarily surrender, “physically, verbally and psychologically” abused Urtula over an 18-month span. Prosecutors say the “abuse became more frequent, more powerful and more demeaning in the days and hours leading up Mr. Urtula’s death.”
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Authorities say thousands of text messages and witness accounts support the allegation that You subjected Urtula to “unending physical and mental abuse”:
In the two months prior to his May 20 death, the couple exchanged more than 75,000 text messages, of which Ms. You sent more than 47,000. Many of the messages display the power dynamic of the relationship, wherein Ms. You made demands and threats with the understanding that she had complete and total control over Mr. Urtula both mentally and emotionally. Her texts included repeated admonitions for Mr. Urtula to “go kill himself” to “go die” and that she, his family, and the world would be better off without him.
The investigation revealed Ms. You used manipulative attempts and threats of self-harm to control Mr. Urtula and isolate him from friends and family. It also found that Ms. You was aware of his spiraling depression and suicidal thoughts brought on by her abuse. Even still, she continued to encourage Mr. Urtula to take his own life.
For this, You was indicted on an involuntary manslaughter charge, the same charge that the aforementioned Michelle Carter was convicted of for encouraging her boyfriend Conrad Roy III to take his own life.
“The indictment alleges Ms. You’s behavior was wanton and reckless and resulted in overwhelming Mr. Urtula’s will to live; and that she created life-threatening conditions for Mr. Urtula that she had a legal duty to alleviate, which she failed to do,” the DA’s office said.
When the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Carter’s conviction, it said that the texts were evidence of “wanton or reckless conduct” and proved that Carter caused Roy’s death by suicide.
[Image via Image via WCVB/screengrab]
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