The Megan Meier Myspace suicide case *Update: Conviction overturned* see page 23

[razorbackbelle0]

Originally Posted by Roo

There is a special place reserved in hell for the people who did this to that poor girl.

I, too, cannot respond to this without using a lot of profanity (Sunshine). And well said, Roo. Kids are so vulnerable and volatile at that age, especially in today's world of stick-thin models and "perfect" air-brushed celebrities. They are given these images to go on, and are desperately unhappy when they don't live up to the fake universe that's been created about women. I feel for this poor little girl. What an absolute nightmare. For those parents to do what they did to such a vulnerable little girl-- they'll burn in Hell, I'm sure of that.

[Speedy]

I know the parents of Megan haven't taken any legal action against the woman who started this, but wouldn't a wrongful death lawsuit apply here? If they could get OJ for it, I think this has more than enough evidence to show she is responsible for the child's death.

I don't know how in the hell the woman cannot feel "as guilty" since it was her doing that sent Megan over the edge. I also agree there is a special place in Hell for people like this.

[HauteMama]

This story demonstrates to me how incredibly careful parents have to be about kids and computers. There are LOTS of people who are not who they say they are online, and while it is doubly vile that adults did this, this poor girl was vulnerable to any paedophile, group of mean kids or anyone else who got their jollies out of messing with people's heads.

She was too vulnerable to me on MySpace. It is a dangerous place even for adults and stable teens, but it is a veritable minefield for troubled kids. I hope other parents learn from this horrible, horrible situation.

[ladyjane76]

wow, I always say I would be afraid to be a teenage girl in this day with camera phones and how easy it is to start a mean web site, and I was kinda a bully. when I coached little league cheerleading you could see these moms and how catty they would be about other girls and that would be 6-13 yr olds. This mother, and others like her and boy are they alot like her needs to get a life and stop living vicariously through there kids. grow up!! So sad, I cant imagine having a daughter in this day in age with all the reality tv and crap that goes on. Remember the days when your parents didn't get involved, no lawsuits, no suicides, so sad!! what is going on in the world! where was this ladies husband to remind her to get a life and get off myspace. jeez my mom thought milli vanilli was an ice cream flavor when I was growing up!Parents by all means should be involved but as a parent NOT your BFF! I had a friend growing up whose mom let us drink and have boys come over all hours of the night of course we all thought that was cool, now that I'm older I realilize this lady was just trying to buy us and had no life of her own. SO SAD!! I dont talk to her daughter, but I hear she's still all up in her biz, So bizarre!

[pukasonqo]

poor megan. no one deserves this. i just wish she didn't act so quickly because there is no way back. but then, at 13, nobody thinks of the consequences.
all that i can say is that i am sorry. i am sorry there are "people" who find that they are somehow justified to make others life misery. i am sorry for megan and the things she'll never be able to enjoy and for her parents who won't see her grow up.

[Liz_x3]

It's one thing to be bullied/teased/etc. by your peers, but by adults?

That shocks me out of my mind that a grown supposedly "mature" adult would stoop that low and do something like that. It just makes me want to puke. That's terrible. And considering that the mother knew about Megan's past and all.. it disgusts me and I hope karma bites that woman in the ass! She definitley deserves it.

[HubbaWubba]

OMG this is just horribly tragic. I have no words.

[elle]

This is so sad and appalling! How can adults do something like this to a kid? Sick!

[susieserb]

I'm reading Roo's original post about this myspace story and I'm recognizing the names of these places i.e. Dardenne, Fort Zumwalt, O'Fallon....hey wait that's where I use to live in the St. Louis area??? Gads virtually my backyard.

In our society today I think adults are very, very child like. They still 'party' do drugs and drink heavily. It's like they don't want to grow up. Seriously I think there is a major problem in this realm so the childish behavior of the stalking mother surprises me not.

[madamefifi]

OK but...am I the only person here who noticed that Megan wrote that the "N" in her name stood for "neglected"? What's that all about? There is more to this story than meets the eye. I don't particularly want to get flamed but her parents maybe should've supervised her a little more? And didn't it say in the story that the minimum age for a myspace account is 14? So what kind of message were they sending to their emotionally fragile daughter by allowing her to break the rules?

I agree that the other adults in the story are truly wretched but Megan's parents don't sound like paragons of maturity either. I think that is the basic problem right there--parents don't want to truly parent anymore.

[cola262]

what a horrible tragedy. I looked it up and found the following news...:

"The St. Charles Journal decided to protect the privacy of the two adults and declined to name them in the story. That didn't sit well with incensed readers, who tracked down what they say is the identity of one of the adults and posted it online. Now the paper is being criticized for giving the adults anonymity."

I don't think the lady deserves that anonymity especially after saying she didn't feel as bad about the suicide.

http://bluemerle.blogspot.com/2007/1...gan-meier.html

on another note, anyone heard of encyclopedia dramatica?
http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Megan_Meier

[water_daisy]

This made me so angry....Megans parents have handled it better than I ever could have.

My little sister (she is 15) goes on myspace all the time. I just called her and told her that if ANYONE EVER says anything that mean to call me straight away no matter where I am or what Im doing. I watch her get so upset about bullies, feeling fat, feeling ugly etc. and I just can imagine anyone (let alone a GROWN WOMAN WITH CHILDREN) using that to make a girl feel so bad she takes her own life.

I was never a computer person in high school so I never realised how powerful they can be as tools for bullying.

My thoughts and prayers go out to her poor family.

[harlem_cutie]

This is very disheartening. For adults to prey on a child like that is just sick. We can never bring Megan back but we can damn sure make those people feel guilty for the rest of their lives especially since it seems they have literally gotten away with murder.

[PinkSuadeSoho]

I have no words. So many lives are changed. Absolutely horrific.

[Roo]

After consideration, I'm seriously considering writing to the DA. As of the news story last night, he hadn't looked at the case, but doesn't think he'll prosecute. The reasons he should prosecute are twofold:

1. People, including Megan's parents, would like a new law enacted that would make such behavior a crime. However, lots of people think the parent of Megan's friend committed a crime as is. The answer is: IMO, crimes were committed (harassment, endangerment etc.) as is. The laws currently governing Missouri - including the cyberstalking law - should be looked at to see how they can apply to this situation.

2. People should not be given the idea that this sort of thing can be gotten away with. This is a horrible message to send. People usually do this sort of thing on the sly, believing they'll never be caught. The reason they do it on the sly is because they know they are doing something wrong. She was caught and the the justice system should take care of this poor child and her family.

Of course the party involved can be civilly sued, but it's a horrible ordeal and Megan's parents are clearly not in a state where they can do that. I would imagine they can barely hold it together. Civil suits take years. I'd gladly take it up were I a philanthropic millionaire, and a smart lawyer in the region looking for publicity should consider taking it on pro bono too. But first and foremost, this should be looked at from a criminal standpoint first. No question.

Here is the Prosecutor's information:

http://www.saintcharlescounty.org/Deskt … ?tabid=187

I encourage anyone who feels the same way to contact him as well. We're all just one voice.