A 22-year-old college student ended his life roughly 90 minutes before his graduation after suffering months of manipulation and abuse from his girlfriend, the Washington Post reports.
Alexander Urtula, a biology major at Boston College, leapt to his death from the top floor of the Renaissance Parking Garage in Boston, Massachusetts on May 20.
On Monday, Rachael Rollins, District Attorney of Suffolk County, charged the victim's 21-year-old girlfriend Inyoung You with involuntary manslaughter for physically, verbally and psychologically abusing Urtula, which, according to investigators, led to his tragic death.
District Attorney Rachael Rollins announces an indictment charging You with involuntary manslaughter:Investigators searched through tens of thousands of messages on Urtula's phone and found a barrage of relentlessly manipulative texts.
You, also a student at Boston college, had a "tumultuous relationship" with Urtula that lasted more than 18 months, Rollins said. The District Attorney also revealed that You encouraged Urtula to kill himself hundreds of times, telling him to "go die" and that she, his family and the world, would be better off without him.
The abuse "became more frequent, more powerful and more demeaning in the days and hours leading up to Mr Urtula’s death," Rollins explained.
It is believed that You had tracked Urtula's phone to the parking garage where he killed himself, and was present when he died.
"The abuse was witnessed by family and classmates of both parties and documented extensively in text messages between Ms You and Mr Urtula, and in Mr Urtula’s journal entries," the prosecutor said. "In the two months prior to his death, the couple exchanged more than 75,000 texts of which Ms You sent more than 47,000 text messages."
"Many of the messages clearly demonstrate the power dynamic in the relationship, wherein Ms You made demands and threats with the understanding that she had complete and total control over Mr Urtula mentally and emotionally," Rollings continued.
You is currently in South Korea, where she's from, the prosecutor states. "If she does not [voluntarily return to face trial] we will utilize the power we have to get her back,” Rollins said, adding that there are "a number of ways" to secure You’s extradition from South Korea, including the possibility of issuing an Interpol Red Notice requesting her arrest.
The case very closely resembles that of Michelle Carter who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2017 after encouraging her boyfriend to kill himself.
The tragedy inspired a bill known as Conrad's Law, which allows prosecutors to charge defendants who encourage, coerce, or manipulate another person into committing or attempting suicide - resulting in a prison sentence of up to five years.