HBO has provided a teaser for its upcoming documentary about the suicide-by-text case that continues to grab international headlines.
Michelle Carter, 22, was sentenced to 17 months for the 2014 death of her boyfriend, Conrad Roy III, 18. Carter was 17 at the time when she texted Roy to “get back in” his truck after he expressed apprehension about taking his own life via carbon monoxide poisoning.
Carter was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after the court saw a plethora of texts where she not only failed to dissuade Roy from dying by suicide but goaded him to go through with it.
“I thought you wanted to do this. The time is right and you’re ready, you just need to do it! You can’t keep living this way. You just need to do it like you did last time and not think about it and just do it babe. You can’t keep doing this everyday,” Carter said in a text to Roy.
Last month, a Massachusetts judge ruled Carter must immediately start her prison sentence. The ruling came a week after the Massachusetts Supreme Court upheld her involuntary manslaughter conviction, finding that her texts weren’t protected by the First Amendment.
Since then, her lawyer said they’re ready to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Directed by “Mommy Dead and Dearest’s” Erin Lee Carr, “I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth vs. Michelle Carter” will use the suicide-by-text saga to examine the complex relationship between mental health and technology. Through exclusive interviews with people close to the case, the two-part documentary won’t explore whether Carter’s actions were immoral—but whether they’re illegal.
“I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth vs. Michelle Carter” will premiere at SXSW on March 9, according to Deadline. A television premiere date is pending.
[Featured image: Michelle Carter, Peter Pereira/The New Bedford Standard Times via AP, Pool, File]