Michelle Carter, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend’s 2014 suicide, will be released from a Massachusetts prison next week for good behavior.
WXFT reported that Carter, 22, will be released on January 23 — months ahead of her expected release date in May. Carter began her two-and-a-half-year sentence in February. She was required to serve at least 15 months in prison. The rest of her sentence was suspended and she is to serve five years on probation.
“There have been no problems and she has been attending programs, which is common at state facilities like the Bristol County House of Correction,” Bristol County police Jonathan Darling told the news station.
Carter, then 17, had texted Conrad Roy III, 18, to “get back in” his truck after he expressed apprehension about killing himself via carbon monoxide poisoning. In the months leading up to his death, Carter had repeatedly urged Roy to take his own life in text messages.
On Monday, a day before officials announced Carter’s early release, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to examine her 2017 involuntary manslaughter conviction.
In July, Carter had asked the country’s highest court to review her conviction on the basis that her texts to Roy were protected by the First Amendment. Her camp also argued that authorities arbitrarily enforced assisted suicide laws in this case, essentially violating her Fifth Amendment right to due process.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision means that Carter’s involuntary manslaughter conviction will stand.
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[Featured image: Michelle Carter/Bristol County Sheriff’s Office]
