South Korean-born US student Inyoung You gets suspended sentence for texting boyfriend to kill himself
- The former Boston College student pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and will be on probation for 10 years but will avoid prison
- She sent her boyfriend Alexander Urtula 47,000 text messages including many urging him to ‘go kill yourself’. He died by suicide in May 2019
A former Boston College student who prosecutors say drove her boyfriend to take his own life with thousands of text messages pleaded guilty on Thursday to involuntary manslaughter.
Under terms of a plea deal, Inyoung You, 23, received a two-and-a-half year suspended jail sentence and 10 years of probation and was barred by a judge in Suffolk Superior Court from profiting from her case in any way. The sentence means You can avoid time behind bars if she adheres to all the terms of her probation, which includes continued mental health treatment and community service.
Prosecutors said You sent Alexander Urtula, 22, of Cedar Grove, New Jersey, 47,000 messages in the last two months of their relationship, including many urging him to “go kill yourself”. Urtula died in Boston in May 2019, the day of his Boston College graduation.
The investigation described You and Urtula’s 18-month-long relationship as “tumultuous, dysfunctional, and unhealthy”, and found You “engaged in deeply disturbing and at times relentless verbally, physically and psychologically abusive behaviour toward Mr Urtula”, according to a statement from the office of Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins released after Thursday’s hearing.
Those actions intensified in the days and hours before Urtula’s death, the office said.