Ex-Boston College Student Pleads Guilty In Boyfriend's Suicide

BOSTON — The former Boston College student accused of encouraging her boyfriend to take his own life was sentenced Thursday to two and a half years behind bars and 10 years probation after agreeing to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

Inyoung You, now 23, admitted to urging her boyfriend Alexander Urtula, 22, "tens of thousands of times" to kill himself over text messages.

Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said You subjected Urtula to months of "unrelenting emotional and psychological abuse" until he eventually took his own life, jumping from the roof of a Roxbury parking garage in May 2019, hours before his graduation from Boston College.

As Suffolk Superior Court Judge Robert Ullmann imposed You's jail time sentence, he asked her to make every possible effort to live her life in a way "that will honor the life of Alexander Urtula."

When she was indicted in 2019, a Superior Court judge both allowed in part and denied in part You's motion to dismiss the charges against her, following an October hearing.

Judge Christine Roach allowed You's motion to dismiss the prosecution's theory of "manslaughter by omission," meaning You caused the suicide by failing to call for help. But she denied You's motion to dismiss on the theory of "manslaughter by commission," directly saying You's words could have caused the suicide.

You sent 47,000 texts to Urtula in the two months before his suicide, many saying things pushing for him to "go die" and saying the world and his family would be better without him, Rollins said. You allegedly continued the abuse after finding out Urtula was depressed and suicidal, threatening him with self-harm in an effort to keep control over him.

Judge Ullmann also ordered You not to profit or benefit in any way from her case, as this case mirrors that of Michelle Carter, the young woman convicted of involuntary manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend Conrad Roy to kill himself. Though Carter was serving a 15-month prison sentence, she was released after 11 months this past January for good behavior and now Hulu is creating a show with Elle Fanning playing her.

Though there is currently no set release date on the upcoming show called "The Girl From Plainville," but multiple news outlets have hinted at a 2022 release date. HBO also created a documentary, "I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter."

SUICIDE PREVENTION AND HELP: Massachusetts provides this list of national, statewide and local resources for people who are in crisis. If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, please call one of the 24-hour crisis hotline numbers right away: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255, Trevor Lifeline for LGBTQ Youth 1-866-488-7386 | text 678-678.

More on Patch

• Ex-BC Student Charged In Boyfriend's Suicide
• Student's Girlfriend Accused Of Urging Suicide Headed For Trial
• Michelle Carter, Guilty Of Encouraging Suicide, Denied Parole