Indictment Of Woman In Boyfriend's Boston Suicide Highlights Need For Coerced Suicide Law, Says Legislator

The case of a young woman indicted this month for involuntary manslaughter in connection with her boyfriend's suicide in Boston highlights the murky legal waters around such cases.

Inyoung You, 21, is accused of urging her boyfriend, Alexander Urtula, to kill himself.

Urtula was 22 when he took his life in May, the day he was to graduate from Boston College. His girlfriend was also a student there.

The case has striking similarities to that of Michelle Carter. She was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2017 for encouraging her boyfriend, Conrad Roy, to take his life.

Massachusetts Sen. Barry Finegold is co-sponsoring a bill to give authorities a clear way to prosecute such cases. It's called "Conrad's Law" — named for Conrad Roy. And it makes coercing suicide a specific crime. Finegold joins us.

Resources: You can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) and the Samaritans Statewide Hotline at 1-877-870-HOPE (4673). The National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).