True Crime
Michelle Carter’s Parents Claim She Is ‘Not the Villain’ She Is Portrayed to Be
They tried to support her. Michelle Carter was convicted of encouraging the suicide of her late boyfriend, Conrad H. Roy III, through text messages back in 2014. Carter’s parents, David and Gail, were on her side through the trial, and may even still support her after being officially released from Bristol County House of Corrections four months early.
Who Are Michelle Carter’s Parents?
Gail and David are from Plainville, Massachusetts and raised their daughter there, according to Women’s Health magazine. They gave Michelle a pretty standard, suburban upbringing — David was the sales manager at a forklift supplier and Gail staged interiors for real estate agents, Esquire reported in August 2017.
How Did They Feel About the Case?
When Carter was 17, she was in a relationship with Roy at the time of his death. She convinced Roy, 18, to take his own life through a series of texts including messages like, “You always say you’re gonna do it, but you never do. I just want to make sure tonight is the real thing,” and, “You just have to it … It’s painless and quick.”
Roy was found dead in his car from carbon monoxide poisoning after struggling with depression. A judge concluded Carter could have stopped it, and said, “She [instructed] Mr. Roy to get back into the truck, well-knowing of all the feelings that he [had] exchanged with her: his ambiguities, his fears, his concerns.”
But before Carter’s mother knew her daughter was involved in the suicide, she texted Roy’s mother, Lynn Roy, and said, “I think about you, your family, and Conrad every day. My heart breaks for all of you, as well as for Michelle, who loved Conrad as much as a 17-year-old girl could,” Esquire reported.
After it became clear their daughter could have been involved in her boyfriend’s passing, David and Gail told the Boston Herald in March 2015 in a statement, “Our hearts have and remain broken for the Roy family. For everyone that does not know our daughter, she is not the villain the media is portraying her to be. She is a quiet, kind, and sympathetic young girl.”
They also claimed their daughter “tried immensely to help Mr. Roy in his battle with depression,” and urged people to wait to know all the facts. “Our daughter will be found innocent,” they believed at the time.
Carter was released from jail on Thursday, January 23, due to her “good time” credit. Will her parents stand by her and try to help her rebuild her life?
