Politics: How Michelle Carter urging her boyfriend to kill himself over hundreds of texts led to a jail sentence for involuntary manslaughter

While Michelle Carter first listened to Conrad Roy and offered support, she later started sending messages that said Roy's family would "get over it."

What started out as a summer string of text messages led to one teenager's death and another's jail sentence.

Massachusetts Judge Lawrence Moniz sentenced 20-year-old Michelle Carter Thursday to a two-and-a-half year jail sentence — only 15 months of which is to be actually spent behind bars — for repeatedly telling her boyfriend to kill himself after finding her guilty of involuntary manslaughter earlier in the year.

Carter and Conrad Roy III had met in 2014 while both were seventeen and taking family vacations in Florida. In the months after, they started sharing stories of profound emotional instability through Facebook and text messages.

Here's how a relationship that led to one young man's suicide and another young woman's jail sentence unfolded:

On June 16, a Massachusetts judge found Carter guilty of involuntary manslaughter for sending texts that encouraged a young man that she had called her boyfriend to kill himself.

Source: Business Insider

In the summer of 2014, Roy started sending Carter texts in which he shared thoughts about killing himself. Carter first listened to Roy and offered support, but she later started sending messages that said Roy's family would "get over it."

Source: Business Insider

"Everyone will be sad for a while but they will get over it and move on," Carter texted when Roy expressed worries about what his suicide would do to his family.

Source: Business Insider

One could "hang yourself, jump off a building, stab yourself idk there's a lot of ways," Carter once texted Roy.

Source: Business Insider

On July 12, 2014, Roy drove to a supermarket parking lot and hooked up a water pump that emitted carbon monoxide into the cab of his truck. Before the gas took effect, Roy exited the vehicle and Carter told him to "get back in."

Source: Business Insider

The police found Roy dead inside his truck the next day. In the weeks after Roy's death, Carter organized a fundraising tournament in Roy's honor and started calling herself a suicide prevention advocate trying to "save as many other lives as possible."

Source: Business Insider

During the summer she was texting Roy, Carter struggled with body image and took medicine for depression and anxiety. "She was enmeshed in a delusional system," Peter Breggin, a psychiatrist, told The New York Times.

Source: The New York Times

The police started investigating Roy's death, and Carter was charged with involuntary manslaughter in March 2015.

Source: Business Insider

Prosecutors said Carter wanted to play the role of the "grieving girlfriend" and receive the public's sympathy.

Source: The New York Times

On June 16, a Massachusetts judge ruled that Carter's texts contributed to Roy's death and she could face up to 20 years of prison time.

Source: Business Insider

"Knowing that Mr. Roy is in the truck, knowing the condition of the truck, knowing or at least having a state of mind that 15 minutes would pass, Ms. Carter takes no action," Judge Lawrence Moniz told the court.

Source: Business Insider

Moniz sentenced Carter Thursday to two-and-half years in jail for her actions. That said, she will spend most of her time on probation and only 15 months behind bars.

Source: Business Insider

"I have not found that Ms. Carter's age or level of maturity or even her mental illness have any significant impact on her actions," said Moniz.

Source: Business Insider

The ruling surprised many legal experts who felt that Carter's physical distance from Roy at the time of his death would prompt a not-guilty ruling. This decision is widely expected to establish precedent in cases of people who have told others to kill themselves.

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