Former Boston College student charged in boyfriend's suicide
Just when you thought the last time you heard this story....you find out that there are other ones out there.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Inyoung You, 21, who is from South Korea, faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Alexander Urtula, 22, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said at a news conference.
You is currently in South Korea, Rollins said, but authorities are "cautiously optimistic" that she will voluntarily return to the United States.
"If she does not, we will utilize the power we have to get her back," Rollins added.
Prosecutors allege that during the 18 months that Urtula and You dated, she exerted control over him, tracking his movement via his cellphone and sending thousands of texts in the run-up to his death.
"She was aware of his suicidal thoughts," Rollins said, "and she encouraged him to take his own life."
Urtula, a biology major originally from Cedar Grove, New Jersey, and a member of the Philippine Society of Boston College, died after authorities say he jumped from a parking garage on May 20 — the same day he was supposed to walk in his commencement at Boston College.
Prosecutors said in the two months before he took his own life, he and You exchanged 75,000 text messages, with more than half coming from her.
Rollins said the texts appeared to become "more frequent, powerful and demeaning," even though You knew of Urtula's "spiraling depression." The texts allegedly included repeated messages for Urtula to kill himself and to "go die," and that the world would be better off without him.
The situation echoes another case in Massachusetts in which a young woman, Michelle Carter, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2017 for the death of her boyfriend, Conrad Roy III. The case drew national attention and was the subject of an HBO documentary this year, "I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth vs. Michelle Carter. "
The case against Carter hinged on text messages in which she appeared to prod Roy to "take action." Both Carter and Roy suffered from depression, attorneys said at the trial.
Carter began serving her 15-month sentence earlier this year; her most recent request for parole was rejected last month.
Roy's death has inspired a state bill known as Conrad's Law, which would make it a crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, for anyone who "intentionally coerces or encourages" a suicide or a suicide attempt.
Rollins acknowledged the bill and the Carter case Monday in announcing the charge against You.
"The culprits are both the girlfriends in those circumstances, but where I would distinguish, and I think the facts will show, in Carter there was very limited physical contact prior and some very egregious language in the moments leading up to the death," Rollins said.
"We have, quite frankly, the opposite of that," Rollins said regarding Urtula's and You's tumultuous relationship. "We have a barrage, a complete and utter attack on this man's very will and conscious and psyche by an individual to the tune of 40,000 text messages in the two months leading up."
Prosecutors added that You instructed Urtula hundreds of times to kill himself, and that she tracked him through his cellphone to the parking garage where he would take his own life.
"You was aware of his location and was present on the roof of the parking structure at the time that he did jump," Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Caitlin Grasso said.
Investigators also found Urtula's journal entries and conducted interviews with family and classmates who said they witnessed the abuse he suffered.
Neither You nor a representative for her could be reached for comment.
"A perpetrator is not limited by their gender or the gender of their partner," Rollins said. "Domestic violence may not always look the same, but it is always about power and control."
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 , text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
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40,000/60 = 666 text messages a day.
A 16 hour waking day has 960 minutes. So she was texting him appx every minute and a half, during every hour she was awake, every day for two months. And he was texting back almost as much.
I think she has a serious mental health issue, too
I agree but also believe she was not the only one with issues in that relationship
That gal is one sick puppy!
666..perfect number for this she devil.
You gotta love texting, now perpetrators spell out their guilt in writing
Some statistics on texting.
On average, American adults sent and received 32 texts per day, totaling 18 billion texts every day, 541 billion texts every month, and 6.5 trillion texts every year.May 18, 2016
And that's from 2016.
To the story...
She is one sick puppy.
This is one of those times I am glad to be doing something in a below average manner
You, too? I might text twice a week
The most texts I have ever made in a day is somewhere around 15.
On most days it is zero or one or two.
I have never sent a text and never will.
There are actually people, mostly young people but could be older also, that only want to text, and dont want to actually talk on the phone. More like that then you might think.
So true - when texting got to be the big fad, our daughter was texting between 7,500 and 10,000 a month. The most hilarious thing was when she and her girlfriend were in her bedroom, three feet from each other, laughing at the texting they were sending to each other.
Now, she's only down to 4,000 a month.
I might get up to four a day and usually it's to answer my wife's question 'bout something.
When I was at my doctors, a mother and daughter (age 12 or so) sitting next to each other were texting each other.
Me too. On average I text about one text every two weeks, and receive about one a week including unanswered ones from my cellphone's server updating me on how much deposit I have left. My phone is for phone calls, and it does not have email or internet access. No way am I a slave to my cellphone.
Buzz same here (it's actually a 15 yr old flip phone). Like Paula I don't actually send texts ever, but like you I receive one every now and then.
Does she realize that she could develop Texting Thumb?
Sad, but she seems to have as many mental health issues as the guy.
Maybe when she's in jail, and if not allowed her cellphone, she might get cured cold turkey. I wonder what the withdrawal symptoms of cellphone deprivation would be.
She put it in writing (texts).
Lock her up!