Here is what I found:
Prosecutors say the then-17-year-old Carter pressured Roy to take his own life through a torrent of text messages. They say she told Roy to ‘‘get back in’’ his truck when he became frightened while trying to kill himself with carbon monoxide.
Carter’s lawyer has argued that Roy had attempted suicide previously and made his own decision to take his life. He has also said that she initially tried to talk him out of it.
As you can see, the defense on her side says he attempted suicide on his own in the past. The defense also says she tried to talk him out of it in the past. So I would have to be on the jury to see if the defense had evidence supporting that.
Breggin said he reviewed all the text messages and Facebook conversations between Carter and Roy. He said that beginning in 2012, Roy told Carter he wanted to kill himself and said there was nothing she could do to stop him.
There are two sides to this story. It's not clear to me like it is to some that she is some sort of predatory bully who coerced him into suicide. It's very possible that she made bad decisions, and should have ceased contact with him or contacted authorities rather than communicate. At the same time she was on anti-depressants herself so that does reveal something. Of course it is also possible she is unempathic, but that alone isn't to excuse her behavior as with the right knowledge she could have handled the situation in the appropriate manner.
There are truly dangerous people who murder people, who kill on purpose, and then there are tragic accidents and I think this fits into the tragic accident category. I don't feel particularly threatened by her, and don't see 20 years in prison as being sensible, but then you have people who sold drugs who get 20 years in prison and that is not fair either. If she gets prison I don't think that is really going to change anything and think community service where she is made to give talks and teach people how to handle these situations appropriately would be better as it would prevent the next girl or guy in her position from making the wrong decisions. Destroying her life I don't think is going to make the next girl or guy any smarter.