Trial starts in 'cyberbully' suicide

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The trial of a Missouri woman who allegedly "cyberbullied" her teenage neighbor into suicide began Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Lori Drew, formerly of Dardenne Prairie, faces charges of illegally accessing a protected computer by creating a fake Internet admirer for 13-year-old neighbor Megan Meier, who hanged herself in 2006 after Drew taunted her on her MySpace page through the fictitious boy she had created.

Federal prosecutors charged Drew in California because it is the location of the MySpace servers that were accessed. Prosecutors allege Drew was aware she was breaking the rule MySpace established for use of its computers.

The St. Louis-Post Dispatch said Tuesday while Drew has been publicly vilified for allegedly picking on her daughter's former friend, pretrial wrangling has resulted in the possibility of Drew being found guilty of only a misdemeanor count of improperly accessing a protected computer.

Jury selection got under way Tuesday. The Post-Dispatch said the entire trial could wrap up by the end of the week.