Inyoung You former Boston college student pleads guilty to Alexander Urtula suicide death after repeatedly urging her boyfriend to kill himself.
A former Boston College student who prosecutors say drove her boyfriend to take his own life after besieging him with text messages to ‘go kill yourself’ pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter.
Inyoung You, 23, received a 2 1/2 year suspended jail sentence and 10 years of probation, effectively allowing the former girlfriend not having to spend any jail time as long as she successfully serves out her probation. As part of a plea deal, the woman was barred from profiting from her case in any way.
You also has to perform 100 service hours during the first three years of her sentence the Boston Globe reported.
You, a native of South Korea, sent Alexander Urtula, 22, of Cedar Grove, 47,000 texts over the last two months of their relationship, many of which included the girlfriend urging her boyfriend to kill himself prosecutors said.
‘She repeatedly told the victim that he should kill himself or die and waged a campaign of abuse that stripped the victim of his free will,’ according to officials.
Ex girlfriend agreed she had contributed to boyfriend seeking to end his own life
Urtula, who dated You for 18 months, died in Boston in 2019 after jumping off a parking garage roof just hours before he was supposed to graduate with a biology degree from Boston College.
The boyfriend reportedly never displayed any signs of wanting to commit suicide before You came into his life.
Massachusetts prosecutors said their relationship was ‘tumultuous, dysfunctional, and unhealthy,’ as You ‘engaged in deeply disturbing and at times relentless verbally, physically and psychologically abusive behavior toward Mr. Urtula.’
You, who fled to her native country South Korea after his death, had reportedly been tracking her boyfriend’s phone to the parking garage and was allegedly there trying to stop him while he committed suicide on May 20, 2019.
Prosecutors said You became abusive after she discovered Urtula had lied about meeting up with an ex-girlfriend. Over the next 18 months, she frequently messaged him to kill himself.
‘[D]o everyone a favor and go fucking kill yourself, you’re such a f**king stupid ass worthless shit,’ she wrote to Urtula in April 2019, Buzzfeed News reported at the time of her initial not-guilty plea.
When You was charged, Jonathan Singer, president of the American Association of Suicidology and associate professor at Loyola University Chicago, told Insider it was a ‘dangerous’ move legally and ran the risk of simplifying the causes of suicide to a single person or single act.
Slippery slope
‘This is incredibly complicated,’ Singer said. ‘If you’re holding somebody responsible for what they said, then it’s a slippery slope in terms of the law, in terms of holding people responsible for what they don’t say.’
You’s plea agreement was made ‘in close consultation with the Urtula family,’ Suffolk District Attorney Rollins said on Thursday. ‘They believe this is something Alexander would have wanted.’
‘This agreement with [the] defense counsel was made in close consultation with the Urtula family. It is consistent with their desire to seek accountability and closure and to protect the legacy of Alexander, a loving son, brother, and uncle,’ said Rollins.
‘Words matter,’ Rollins said. ‘Demeaning language, ridicule and verbal abuse can deeply impact people.’
Asked if she would like to make a statement, You’s lawyer, replied she was too distraught to address the court.
