Hulu's new series The Girl From Plainville explores the disturbing case of Michelle Carter (played by Elle Fanning) whose texts to her boyfriend Conrad Roy before his death suggested she had encouraged him to end his life. The first three episodes of the series dropped on Hulu on March 29, which show the beginnings of Carter's unraveling: While she thrives at portraying the grieving girlfriend, that soon comes undone when friends and the police learn that Carter has been lying about her communication with Roy. It seems Carter is headed for trouble — but where does she end up in real life, given the complicated nature of this case?
Ultimately, Carter did get into legal trouble for sending texts to Roy — though the outcome of her case remains controversial. She headed to trial in 2017, where a Massachusetts juvenile court judge convicted the teen of involuntary manslaughter for Roy's 2014 death. (She pleaded not guilty.) However, it wasn't merely the fact that Michelle allegedly encouraged Roy's suicide that led to her conviction — the judge pointed out that Michelle had failed to notify anyone who may have been able to stop Roy, despite knowing the location of the truck where he took his life.
Carter was originally sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, before it was reduced to 15 months. In 2019, she arrived at the Bristol County House of Correction in Dartmouth, Massachusetts to serve her sentence. In late 2019, she was denied an early parole. A member of the Massachusetts Parole Board said at the time, "Ms. Carter's self-serving statements and behavior, leading up to after his suicide, appear to be irrational and lacked sincerity. Release does not meet the legal standard."
Despite not being granted parole, Carter was released three months early in 2020 following good behavior. A spokesperson for the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office told Buzzfeed News, "Ms. Carter has been a model inmate in Bristol County. She has attended programs, had a job inside the jail, has been polite to our staff and volunteers, has gotten along with her inmates, and we’ve had no discipline issues with her whatsoever."
Her parole is set to end in 2022.
Carter's whereabouts are not currently known, and she doesn't seem to have any social media accounts — at least, ones that are public. If she has a comment on The Girl From Plainville, she has yet to provide one.