Inyoung You Is Charged In Her Boyfriend's Death by Suicide. Will Their Texts Exonerate Her?

From ELLE

Boston College biology major Alexander Urtula was all set to graduate the morning of May 20. His parents were in town from New Jersey to watch him walk the stage and receive a diploma. But just 90 minutes before the ceremony started, they received devastating news: their 22-year-old son had leapt to his death from the top floor of a parking garage.

Urtula's 21-year-old girlfriend of a year and a half, fellow BC student Inyoung You, was indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter last month by a Suffolk County grand jury. Prosecutors believe she coerced Urtula to kill himself, alleging in a press release that she sent hundreds of texts urging him to "go die." The digital domestic abuse, they claim, became "more powerful and more demeaning" in the hours before his death by suicide.

You's family released a series of texts between You and Urtula on Tuesday from the final moments of his life. In the purported exchange, she sent over 1o0 messages attempting to talk him out of killing himself. The thread, provided to the Boston Globe by a powerful Massachusetts public relations firm hired by You's family, can be read in full, here.

You's case will reportedly rest, in part, on the newly released messages. But will introducing them be enough to exonerate her? Bennett Gershman, a former Manhattan prosecutor and PACE school of law professor, told ELLE.com they "don't really show anything."

"If half the texts are [abusive] and the other half are from You urging Urtula to seek help, then they kind-of cancel each other out," he said. "It might create reasonable doubt by showing that she wanted to help him get control of himself, but it's impossible to tell without seeing them in full."

One of Urtula's closest friends previously told ELLE.com that Urtula and You had "relationship issues," but had no idea how bad it really was until after the Suffolk County DA accused You of inundating Urtula with "manipulative attempts and threats of self-harm" via text to isolate him from friends and family.

The purpose behind publicizing the exchange, Gershman said, is to create sympathy for You. Her representatives, Gershman said, likely want to portray their client as a caring girlfriend—and not the hardened criminal the prosecution is painting her as to the public.

You withdrew from BC in August and is now living in South Korea. According to the Globe, she will return to the U.S. "soon" to be arraigned, though a date has not yet been announced.

The district attorney's office declined to comment on the newly released texts, telling the Globe: “This office will not comment further on the investigation at this point, or on the evidence that supported our charging decision. More facts and evidence will be made available at the arraignment and throughout the course of the litigation. Until that point, we have no further comment.”

You Might Also Like

• 10 Pairs of White Sneakers That Go With Everything

• 50 Surprising Things You Never Knew About 'Sex and the City'

• 20 Serums to Solve All Your Skincare Problems