Story highlights Teen allegedly encouraged boyfriend to commit suicide, according to prosecutors

Michelle Carter will be tried by a judge in Massachusetts courtroom

(CNN) Almost three years ago, Massachusetts teenager Conrad Roy III was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in his pickup truck in a Kmart parking lot.

His girlfriend posted grieving messages on social media and raised money in his name for mental health awareness. His friends and family lamented a young life cut short by suicide.

But before long prosecutors came up with another, more sinister, theory about what happened. And within months they indicted the girlfriend, saying they had discovered numerous text messages from her urging Roy to kill himself.

Michelle Carter, who was 17 at the time, goes on trial this week in a Taunton, Massachusetts, courtroom on involuntary manslaughter charges. She waived her right to a jury trial Monday, meaning her case will be decided by a judge who will hear testimony and render a verdict.

Boston defense attorney Peter Elikann told CNN affiliate WFXT that lawyers and legal scholars are watching the case closely because it could set a legal precedent.

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