A judge in Massachusetts has ruled that a 20-year-old woman was guilty of encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide in 2014.

Michelle Carter waived her right to a jury which ultimately gave Judge Lawrence Moniz the right to rule as he saw fit given the evidence presented in the case.

It has been established that Carter regularly urged her boyfriend, Conrad Roy, to act on his suicidal thoughts, going so far as to send multiple texts when the latter appeared reluctant to carry out the act.

Acting on Roy's behalf, prosecutors claimed that Carter was desperate for attention and asserted that Roy's death would provide her with the attention she craved.

Further to this, they accused Carter of being on the phone to Roy in the moments before his passing.

However, Carter's defence team insisted that their client had on many previous occasions talked her boyfriend out of taking his own life, and claimed that Carter suffered from her own mental health issues during this time.
 

Texts messages which were presented in court make for harrowing reading, as the accused urges the deceased to act on his intentions.

"You can't think about it. You just have to do it. You said you were gonna do it. Like I don't get why you aren’t," Carter wrote.

When Roy insisted that he intended to carry out the act, but wasn't ready, he was met with a barrage of criticism from his girlfriend.

"No, you're not, Conrad. Last night was it. You kept pushing it off and you say you'll do it, but you never do," Carter responded.

It's always gonna be that way if you don't take action. You're just making it harder on yourself by pushing it off. You just have to do it. Do you want to do it now?"

Commenting on their late son's girlfriend, Roy's mother said: "I don't believe she has a conscience. I think she needs to be held responsible for her actions 'cause she knew exactly what she was doing and what she said."

 Roy poisoned himself with carbon monoxide on July 13 2014.

The case is the first of its kind, but it's believed that Carter could face up to 20 years in prison.

Images credit: AP