BOSTON (WHDH) - A former Boston College student is facing an involuntary manslaughter charge in connection with the suicide death of her boyfriend, who she “physically, verbally and psychologically” abused for months before he leapt to his death in May — just hours before he was slated to receive his diploma, Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins announced Monday.
A Suffolk grand jury returned an indictment charging Inyoung You, 21, of South Korea, in the texting-suicide death of 22-year-old Alexander Urtula, a biology major from Cedar Grove, New Jersey, who completed his coursework in December 2018. Prior to his death, he had been working as a researcher in New York.
The indictment alleges her non-stop abuse resulted in “overwhelming” Urtula’s will to live.
Urtula, who allegedly suffered through “unending abuse” over the course of an 18-month-long relationship with You, jumped from the roof of the Renaissance parking garage in Roxbury around 8:30 a.m. on May 20, Rollins said. His family was in town from New Jersey to watch him walk in the Boston College graduation ceremony that began that same day at 10 a.m.
In the two months prior to his death, the couple exchanged more than 75,000 texts, of which You sent more than 47,000, Rollins said an analysis of his cellphone revealed.
Her texts reportedly included repeated admonitions for Urtula to “go kill himself” to “go die” and that she, his family, and the world would be better off without him.
Rollins said many of the messages “clearly display the power dynamic of the relationship, wherein You made demands and threats with the understanding that she had “complete and total control over” Urtula.
The abuse became “more frequent, more powerful and more demeaning” in the days and hours leading up to Urtula’s death, according to Rollins.
“This unrelenting abuse was witnessed by friends and classmates of both parties and documented extensively in text messages between the couple, and in Mr. Urtula’s journal entries,” Rollins said.
You allegedly used manipulative threats of self-harm to control Urtula in an attempt to isolate him from friends and family, in addition to tracking her boyfriend’s location. She was reportedly present at the garage at the time of the suicide.
You studied economics at Boston College before withdrawing from classes in August. She was scheduled to graduate in May 2020.
You was also aware of Urtula’s “spiraling depression” yet she still allegedly “persisted in encouraging him to take his own life.”
She is in South Korea and has not been taken into custody.
“Students come to Boston from around the world eager to learn and experience our vibrant city,” Rollins said. “Their families and loved ones do not expect them to face unending physical and mental abuse.”
In a statement, Boston College said, “Alexander was a gifted student at Boston College, who was involved in many activities, including the Philippine Society of Boston College. We continue to offer our condolences to Alex’s family.”
In a similar case, Michelle Carter was convicted in 2017 of involuntary manslaughter in the 2014 death of Conrad Roy III. Carter had urged Roy to kill himself via text messages.
A judge at the time determined that the then-17-year-old Carter caused Roy’s death when she ordered him in a phone call to get back in his carbon monoxide-filled truck that he’d parked in a Kmart parking lot.
Carter was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
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