Guilty Verdict in Teen 'Suicide-by-Text' Case

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes


That's an honest answer and I can respect that. However, just to let you, were you aware of her wanting him to go to counseling and she would go with him? I wasn't until today and that changed my whole opinion on this case!


Think about it, she broke up with him and is it possible he just drove her bat snip crazy to the point she did what she did? Not saying what she did was right, but in reality here, I think we have 2 victims! One most likely going to jail, and one dead!


Harsh reality us grown ups need to reflect on!

originally posted by: seeker1963
a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn


I don't like to talk about my journey thru my taking Big Pharm psychiatric drugs much, because they sent me to a very dark place. However, the morality that was taught to me by my parents and my so called religious upbringing always was forefront in those time of my anger and delusional states compliment of those drugs! I must say though, someone was watching over me, and I learned from those moments in hell and try to bring balance in these types of arguments where people who have never dealt with these drugs just do NOT understand!


Yet a young girl most likely will go to prison, a young confused, drugged young man is dead, and NO ONE questions the medications?????

There we agree. I know people who were messed up by such drugs. In a case like this, I'd say the drug companies should also be on trial.

a reply to: silo13

Then that is more than one injustice for the same non-crime. I'm sorry but it is fundamentally untrue, not to mention superstitious, that someone can be killed by words—whether you like it or not, or whether the law sets precedents or not. It is false, a lie, an absurdity, a fatuity.

a reply to: SilentStigma

Your opinion.

The judge sighted two other cases where two different people were convicted of involuntary manslaughter without even putting a finger on the person who died.

Judge's option rules.

This girl could have done one simple thing to save them both...

When he exited the truck coughing and choking and admittedly scared, she could have replied STOP.

She didn't.

peace

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

Like I said, just because you repeat something often and with a lot of words does not make it true, but your opinion.

ATD in this one I guess.

peace

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

Agree to disagree.

I think he put himself in that situation. If her words were to blame, then that's like saying someone can hijack your brain and body. I can't identify with that. No one has ever hijacked my brain and body with their words.

Also, I said this seems like a civil matter, not a criminal matter and she could be found liable for a percentage and him the rest.

I do support assisted suicide and the right to die. I feel like he sought her help in that...although I think he was so young to be making a decision without a terminal illness. She, however, should not be expected to diagnose a mental illness. She is only two years older. She didn't owe him a duty of care comparable to a psychiatrist.

I think she is a crappy human, but I don't think it rises to the level of criminal. Civil gross negligence? Yes, I would easily be persuaded to think she bears a percentage of responsibility.

originally posted by: face23785
a reply to: FamCore

Erm, do ya got a better source besides a satire of Wikipedia?

I just posted the same link another posted on earlier pages to show some of the texts she sent. I wasn't aware it's a satire site

originally posted by: seeker1963
a reply to: LadyGreenEyes


That's an honest answer and I can respect that. However, just to let you, were you aware of her wanting him to go to counseling and she would go with him? I wasn't until today and that changed my whole opinion on this case!


Think about it, she broke up with him and is it possible he just drove her bat snip crazy to the point she did what she did? Not saying what she did was right, but in reality here, I think we have 2 victims! One most likely going to jail, and one dead!


Harsh reality us grown ups need to reflect on!

I did read that about the counseling in the thread. I haven't actually read about this case before, as far as I can recall, so no preformed opinions. Is there evidence that she broke up with him? Her own texts state that she loved him and would "never leave" him. That doesn't sound like the comment from someone who broke up, if they did, and stayed that way. Plus, the texts show she was the one instigating the exchanges, texting him repeatedly when he didn't respond. The video isn't easy to listen to, but it's very informative. She was really pushing, and demanding responses from him. Both were clearly not behaving in a rational and emotionally stable manner, as far as that's concerned.

Harsh realities, indeed! This sort of thing is among the reasons my teens are required to give me the passwords for their phones, and various online accounts. Parental oversight in a case like this could have made a world of difference. Two lives destroyed here, I agree. More than two, because their families are affected as well. Was he also on medications? Many of these are very bad for teens, and do, in fact, cause suicidal thoughts in some.

a reply to: silo13

Like I said, just because you repeat something often and with a lot of words does not make it true, but your opinion.

ATD in this one I guess.

peace

It's not an opinion that she didn't kill him. It's a demonstrable fact.

a reply to: MotherMayEye

I think he put himself in that situation. If her words were to blame, then that's like saying someone can hijack your brain and body. I can't identify with that. No one has ever hijacked my brain and body with their words.

Exactly right. To say otherwise is to believe in psychic powers and sorcery.

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes


Well, you sound like a damn good parent in my old eyes! Bottom line no matter what we are hearing is a truth or a lie, we as a society have failed! When we see our youth behaving in this manner, it isn't their fault, it is societies fault, our educational systems fault, parenting gone wild, the government, but rest assured, for those who love history as I do and loved reading about the fall of the Roman Empire, we are witnessing it right now! The only difference is, it is the fall of the Western world instead of the fall of Rome.......

originally posted by: MotherMayEye
a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

Agree to disagree.

I think he put himself in that situation. If her words were to blame, then that's like saying someone can hijack your brain and body. I can't identify with that. No one has ever hijacked my brain and body with their words.

Also, I said this seems like a civil matter, not a criminal matter and she could be found liable for a percentage and him the rest.

I do support assisted suicide and the right to die. I feel like he sought her help in that...although I think he was so young to be making a decision without a terminal illness. She, however, should not be expected to diagnose a mental illness. She is only two years older. She didn't owe him a duty of care comparable to a psychiatrist.

I think she is a crappy human, but I don't think it rises to the level of criminal. Civil gross negligence? Yes, I would easily be persuaded to think she bears a percentage of responsibility.

Well, at least here, we can agree to disagree in a civil fashion. Kudos to all in the thread for that!! Not an easy topic, by any means, and all are being really good about being civil and polite.

For words, they can and do hurt people. We are affected by how others talk to and about us. Her words were geared to pushing him to kill himself. Even if he was considering it, she still encouraged, and even pushed when he stated, over and over, that he wasn't sure he wanted to. That wasn't him trying to convince her to agree; that was her convincing him to do it, when he wasn't sure he wanted to do so.

A civil trial might well be in order, and that's something for the family to consider, but I disagree on the criminal aspect. Clearly, by law, she did commit a crime. The laws stated in the thread show that her actions did, in fact, constitute involuntary manslaughter.

Regarding assisted suicide, I am far from convinced that's a good thing. For a terminal patient would be the ONLY way I'd even consider it acceptable. Many want to see it legal for other times as well, and I believe that would set a very dangerous precedent.

No, she would not be as accountable as would a trained professional, as far as that's concerned, but anyone, at seventeen, should know it's wrong to push someone to kill themselves. She admitted that she knew what she was doing, too.

Agreed she's a crappy individual! Just disagree on the other aspects.

originally posted by: seeker1963
a reply to: LadyGreenEyes


Well, you sound like a damn good parent in my old eyes! Bottom line no matter what we are hearing is a truth or a lie, we as a society have failed! When we see our youth behaving in this manner, it isn't their fault, it is societies fault, our educational systems fault, parenting gone wild, the government, but rest assured, for those who love history as I do and loved reading about the fall of the Roman Empire, we are witnessing it right now! The only difference is, it is the fall of the Western world instead of the fall of Rome.......

Appreciate that! I am far from perfect, but I try. At least, if they do something, it won't be for lack of supervision. Quite agree on the rest; we are on the same page there!! The youth do have their own personal responsibility, of course, but society isn't teaching what they need to learn, and that's our fault, as adults.

a reply to: watchitburn

Right..what makes her qualified to help in an outreach situation? she would not be too helpful I think.
She admitted that she helped cause the death, so..where does that leave us?

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
This is a dangerous president. She is charged with manslaughter for no more than texting on a phone.

exactly, text, the same thing that is in books. the precedence has been set, if anything a criminal reads in a book encourages them to commit a crime then the author and the publisher are guilty of being accessories to any crime that person commits.

The dead person was obviously insane and was going to kill themselves eventually with or without text encouragement.

The precedence has been set, every bit of text that any of us posts on the internet or on our phones is now subject to criminal prosecution if someone, somewhere ,uses it as encouragement to commit a crime.

I wonder if the printed MSM will also be legally held to this dangerous new precedence?

obviously what happened here is that the parents of the insane person that killed themselves are just looking for someone to blame and for someone to sue so that they can cash in on their insane child`s suicide.

To whom asked earlier how severe the punishment was likely to be they said on the news that she could serve up to 20 years in prison. I think she was very badly advised to not take a jury trial also, if people can't agree on Bill Cosby then how the hell could 12 people agree on this?

Personally, I feel she is a piece of trash and is deserving of some punishment but 20 years would be a bit harsh in my opinion. In my opinion she should serve 5-10 with time being on the lower end for good behavior or if she took part in activities such as "Scared Straight". It was ultimately his decision to go through with it, he could have at any time not done it and told her to go to hell when she told him to get back in the truck.

I also agree that this is a slippery slope situation and I think she should have been charged with something else.....maybe criminal negligence. The way the law is written though allows for it to be interpreted as involuntary manslaughter, and if anything the law should be changed now for cases such as this in my opinion.

Sometimes it comes down to right or wrong.
It is as simple as that.
If you defend somebody who has done wrong, you are wrong.

originally posted by: Tardacus

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
This is a dangerous president. She is charged with manslaughter for no more than texting on a phone.

exactly, text, the same thing that is in books. the precedence has been set, if anything a criminal reads in a book encourages them to commit a crime then the author and the publisher are guilty of being accessories to any crime that person commits.

The dead person was obviously insane and was going to kill themselves eventually with or without text encouragement.

The precedence has been set, every bit of text that any of us posts on the internet or on our phones is now subject to criminal prosecution if someone, somewhere ,uses it as encouragement to commit a crime.

I wonder if the printed MSM will also be legally held to this dangerous new precedence?

obviously what happened here is that the parents of the insane person that killed themselves are just looking for someone to blame and for someone to sue so that they can cash in on their insane child`s suicide.

It's insanity. The objective facts are that the man killed himself. Only he can control his actions, his motor cortex, his decisions, and to say someone else through words killed him, and is guilty of his death as if she did it herself, will echo throughout history as an injustice. This is not only a dangerous precedent, but an evil one.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

She could of prevented it by calling the police/ambulance, never mind she convinced him to do it..she is liable to some degree.

originally posted by: vonclod
a reply to: LesMisanthrope

She could of prevented it by calling the police/ambulance, never mind she convinced him to do it..she is liable to some degree.

What she did is morally wrong by any unit of measure. I agree there. She's a piece of *. But the fact remains that she did not kill him.