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

Glenn C. Silva (Associated Press)

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.

George Rizer (The Globe via Associated Press)

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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."

Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Michael Bates holds an iPhone, which belonged to Conrad Roy III, while on the witness stand during the trial of Michelle Carter.

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"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.

Pat Greenhouse (Associated Press Pool)

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