Family Furious Over Teen's Online Suicide

Nov. 21, 2008 — -- Four days after more than 1000 viewers watch for 12 hours as a Florida teenager committed suicide before a live webcam, his family is enraged and some online are questioning whether the young man's Internet audience was complicit.

Authorities told ABC News that 19-year-old Abraham Biggs of Pembroke Pines, Fla., was blogging on an online message board when he posted a link to Justin.tv, a live-streaming Web site where he had a camera rolling on him while he overdosed on prescription medication.

"It didn't have to be," Biggs' sister, Rosalind Biggs told The Associated Press. "They got hits, they got viewers, nothing happened for hours."

Wendy Crane, an investigator at the Broward County Medical Examiner's office told ABC News that comments on the blog eventually led one of the site's visitors to call police, who were able to find Abraham through the IP address on his computer.

But for Biggs' family, it took far too long.

"I think it is wrong, that is the first statement I want to make, somebody should have been monitoring it," the teen's father, Abraham Biggs Sr. told WPLG-TV, the ABC affiliate in Miami.

At 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, about 12 hours after he first started blogging about his death, EMS on the scene pronounced him dead.

A Facebook group entitled "Rest in Peace Abraham Biggs" has already attracted nearly 200 members: Some were friends, classmates or co-workers of Abraham, others just heard the story and felt the need to react.

Many members of the Facebook group express their sympathy for Biggs and his family. Others have even begun an online debate about whether the online viewers are to blame for Biggs' death.

One Facebook member wrote, "I was very shocked and outraged when I read this last night. No, it wasn't right for Mr. Biggs to take his own life, but it also wasn't right for nearly 1,500 people to watch this all unfold in front of their eyes and not do anything about it either."

Another member responding to criticism towards the online viewers said, "For those asking 'how could 1500 people watch and not do anything' it's the internet, who can take anybody seriously? And by the way, the only reason the cops found out WAS because someone on the internet contacted the local police."

Internet and Death

This is just one of many instances over the past few years in which the Web and social networking sites have been blamed for teen suicide.

In October 2006, 13-year-old Megan Meier hung herself after being told on her Myspace site that "the world would be better off without her" in an online conversation with what she thought was a boy she liked.

In what has been called the nation's first cyber bullying case, her 49-year-old neighbor, Lori Drew, is now on trial for one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorization because she created the profile of the boy.

Abraham's death is also not the first suicide to be broadcast live. In 1974, 29-year-old, TV news anchor Christine Chubbuck committed suicide live on-air.

Bryan Pfaffenberg, an associate professor of science, technology and society at the University of Virginia says the Internet is not to blame, people are.

"It's real important to not necessarily assume that because people sometimes do strange things on the Internet, it doesn't necessarily mean that the Internet causes those strange things to be done," he said.

Dr. Charles Konia, a psychiatrist and author of The Emotional Plague says it's not easy to explain why some people seek public ways to kill themselves, such as the Internet or jumping off a building, while others chose to do so in private.

"It depends on the personality, the pre-disposing personality of the individual," he said.

This is just one of many instances over the past few years in which the Web and social networking sites have been blamed for teen suicide.

In October 2006, 13-year-old Megan Meier hung herself after being told on her Myspace site that "the world would be better off without her" in an online conversation with what she thought was a boy she liked.

In what has been called the nation's first cyber bullying case, her 49-year-old neighbor, Lori Drew, is now on trial for one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorization because she created the profile of the boy.

Abraham's death is also not the first suicide to be broadcast live. In 1974, 29-year-old, TV news anchor Christine Chubbuck committed suicide live on-air.

Bryan Pfaffenberg, an associate professor of science, technology and society at the University of Virginia says the Internet is not to blame, people are.

"It's real important to not necessarily assume that because people sometimes do strange things on the Internet, it doesn't necessarily mean that the Internet causes those strange things to be done," he said.

Dr. Charles Konia, a psychiatrist and author of The Emotional Plague says it's not easy to explain why some people seek public ways to kill themselves, such as the Internet or jumping off a building, while others chose to do so in private.

"It depends on the personality, the pre-disposing personality of the individual," he said.