Sent 47 thousand messages in two months: a girl from Boston drove her ex-boyfriend to suicide

The former Boston College student who, according to prosecutors, forced her boyfriend to commit suicide via thousands of text messages, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on December 23, reports USAToday

Photo: Shutterstock

Under the terms of the plea deal, 23-year-old Inyeon Yu was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and 10 years on probation, and a Suffolk Supreme Court judge forbade her to benefit from her case in any way.

The verdict means she can avoid jail if she observes all the conditions of the probationary period, including continued mental health treatment and community service.

Prosecutors said Yu sent tens of thousands of messages from Cedar Grove, New Jersey, 22-year-old Alexander Urtula, over the past two months of their relationship, including many calling for "go and kill yourself." Alexander died in Boston in May 2019, the day he graduated from Boston College.

In a statement from Suffolk District Attorney Rachel Rollins' office, released after the December 23 hearing, it was said that Yu and Urtula's 18-month relationship was characterized as "turbulent, dysfunctional and unhealthy," and it was found that Yu "used a deeply disturbing and at times ruthless verbal, physical and psychological pressure in relation to Urtula. "

The office said that these actions intensified several days and hours before Urtula's death.

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Yoo, who was born in South Korea and is a naturalized US citizen, sent Urtula more than 47000 text messages from late March 2019 until his death in which she "repeatedly told the victim that he must kill himself or die and unleashed a campaign of abuse- this took away the victim's free will," the office said.

“Words matter,” Rollins said in a statement. “Derogatory language, ridicule and verbal abuse can affect people deeply.”

Rollins said the plea deal was struck after consultation with the Urtula family.

The family, in a statement read in court, described how they drove to Boston for the celebration, but came to the funeral instead.

“We do not feel anger or revenge. We believe that time will take us through all the moments of sorrow and joy,” the family said.

Before Yu's indictment in November 2019, when she initially pleaded not guilty, she posted several text messages through a public relations firm in which she allegedly tried to stop Urtula and warn his brother some time before Alexander's death.

Yu was given the opportunity to speak in court, but she refused. Her lawyer said she was "very upset."

Defense lawyer Stephen Kim said Yoo is a "wonderful young woman with deep, deep remorse."

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The case has been compared to the Michelle Carter case, which made headlines across the country and also formed the basis of the HBO film. A young Massachusetts woman was sentenced to 15 months in prison after being convicted of manslaughter in 2017 for using text messages and phone calls to induce her boyfriend, Konrad Roy, to commit suicide in 2014. Her lawyer argued that her communications were protected by free speech.

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