Michelle Carter, Guilty Of Encouraging Suicide, Denied Parole

NATICK, MA — Michelle Carter, convicted of involuntary manslaughter for using text messages to encourage her boyfriend, Conrad Roy, to kill himself, pleaded her case before the Massachusetts Parole Board. Carter has served seven months of a 15-month prison sentence.

"The [Board] is troubled that Ms. Carter not only encouraged Mr. (Roy) to take his own life, she actively prevented others from intervening in his suicide," the Board said in explaining its decision. "Ms. Carter's self-serving statements and behavior, leading to and after his suicide, appear to be irrational and lacked sincerity. Ms. Carter needs to further address her causative factors that led to the governing offense."

One Board member said Carter "did not provide sufficient insight into reason for lack of empathy at time of crime and surrounding time period."

Carter started her prison sentence in February, some five years after her boyfriend, Conrad Roy III, killed himself at 18 years old. Her lawyers have said she isn't responsible for his death, despite her telling him to get back into his truck as it filled with carbon monoxide in the parking lot of a Fairhaven Kmart in 2014. Carter was 17 at the time.

Roy's family was reportedly at the parole hearing Thursday.

Carter's attorney, who has argued her text messages to Roy were protected under the First Amendment, has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has yet to decide whether it will hear the case.

The highest court in Massachusetts denied her attorney's request to keep her out of jail while an appeal was being pursued.