Mental Health Notes

Lori Drew Indicted In Relation To Megan Meier’s Suicide

by Alicia Sparks, Mental Health Notes on May 15th, 2008

The teenage years can be confusing and difficult enough on their own. Add into the mix mental health problems and a neighbor, who’s more than three times your age, harassing you online, and you have the makings of…well, even more confusing and difficult times.

In the case of Megan Meier, you have the makings of the most devastating and final breaking point.

On October 16, 2006, 13-year-old Megan Meier, who was on medication and being treated for attention deficit disorder and depression, hanged herself after her online boyfriend/crush/flirt “Josh,” whom she met on MySpace, told her the world would be a better place without her in it.

We now know that “Josh” never existed. He was allegedly created by Megan’s 49-year-old neighbor Lori Drew (and apparently other “coconspirators,” like one of Drew’s employees, 19-year-old Ashley Grills). Drew, Grills, and whomever else (if anyone else - I’m not sure) allegedly used “Josh” to talk to Megan, who used to be friends with Drew’s daughter, to find out what, if anything, Megan was saying about Drew’s daughter.

I keep saying “allegedly,” because Drew denies the charges and, well, nothing’s been proven in court just yet.

Grills admitted to creating “Josh’s” MySpace account, and even being the one to send the message about the world being a better place without Megan; however Drew was the only one indicted today on any charges at all. They were charges of “conspiracy and fraudulently gaining access to someone else’s computer.”

As far as I can tell, Grills hasn’t been charged with anything; however, I may have missed something somewhere, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

This is undoubtedly a parents nightmare, and my heart truly goes out to Megan’s family. Not only are they dealing with the suicide of their daughter, but because of the circumstances, they have to relive it every single time there’s a “news break.” I honestly have no idea how I would deal with something like this.

Information and quotes in this post came from Yahoo! News article Woman Indicted in Missouri MySpace Suicide Case.

Image: Newscom

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POSTED IN: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Criminal Psych, Current Affairs & News, Death, Depression, Mood Disorders, Sites of Interest, Suicide