Feb. 11 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts woman began her 15-month prison sentence Monday after being convicted for sending texts to urge her then-boyfriend to kill himself.
Bristol County Juvenile Court Judge Lawrence Moniz ruled that Michelle Carter, 22, was to immediately begin serving the prison sentence for the 2017 conviction in the death of Conrad Roy III after a brief court appearance on Tuesday.
"This has been a four-year ordeal for our family," Becky Maki, Roy's aunt, said. "This is the day we have been looking forward to. We feel justice has been served. ... This is something that shouldn't happen. Hopefully it will never happen again."
Carter's defense attorneys asked Moniz to keep Carter out of prison while they sought to have the case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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The Massachusetts Supreme Court on Monday denied an emergency motion by Carter seeking further delay of her involuntary manslaughter sentence.
Her legal team Monday said they would file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming months.
"This case, legally, is not over," defense lawyer Joseph Cataldo said. "We fully intend to file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court within the next 90 days."
Last week the state upheld the involuntary manslaughter conviction against Carter, stating she "badgered" Roy with text messages that convinced him to "get back in" to a truck filling with poisonous fumes to follow through on a plan to kill himself in 2014 when she was 17 years old and Roy was 18 years old.
The court cited Carter's texts to friends in which she said Roy's death was her fault because she "told him to get back in" the truck after he "got scared" and left the vehicle as he inhaled carbon monoxide.
