Fla. teen commits suicide with live Web audience
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Digg Facebook Newsvine del.icio.us Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Bookmarks Print By RASHA MADKOUR, Associated Press Writer Rasha Madkour, Associated Press Writer – 36 mins agoMIAMI – A college student committed suicide by taking a drug overdose in front of a live webcam as some computer users egged him on, others tried to talk him out of it, and another messaged OMG in horror when it became clear it was no joke. Some watchers contacted the Web site to notify police, but by the time officers entered Abraham Biggs' home — a scene also captured on the Internet — it was too late.

Biggs, a 19-year-old Broward College student who suffered from what his family said was bipolar disorder, or manic depression, lay dead on his bed in his father's Pembroke Pines house Wednesday afternoon, the camera still running 12 hours after Biggs announced his intentions online around 3 a.m.

It was unclear how many people watched it unfold.

Biggs was not the first person to commit suicide with a webcam rolling. But the drawn-out drama — and the reaction of those watching — was seen as an extreme example of young people's penchant for sharing intimate details about themselves over the Internet.

Biggs' family was infuriated that no one acted sooner to save him, neither the viewers nor the Web site that hosted the live video, Justin.tv. The Web site shows a video image, with a space alongside where computer users can instantly post comments.

Only when police arrived did the Web feed stop, "so that's 12 hours of watching," said the victim's sister, Rosalind Bigg. "They got hits, they got viewers, nothing happened for hours."

She added: "It didn't have to be."

An autopsy concluded Biggs died from a combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, which his family said was prescribed for his bipolar disorder.

Biggs announced his plans to kill himself over a Web site for bodybuilders, authorities said. But some users told investigators they did not take him seriously because he had threatened suicide on the site before.

Some members of his virtual audience encouraged him to do it, others tried to talk him out of it, and some discussed whether he was taking a dose big enough to kill himself, said Wendy Crane, an investigator with the Broward County medical examiner's office.

A computer user who claimed to have watched said that after swallowing some pills, Biggs went to sleep and appeared to be breathing for a few hours while others cracked jokes.

Someone notified the moderator of the bodybuilding site, who traced Biggs' location and called police, Crane said.

As police entered the room, the audience's reaction was filled with Internet shorthand: "OMFG," one wrote, meaning "Oh, my God." Others, either not knowing what they were seeing, or not caring, wrote "lol," which means "laughing out loud," and "hahahah."

An online video purportedly from Biggs' webcam shows a gun-wielding officer entering a bedroom, where a man is lying on a bed, his face turned away from the camera. The officer begins to examine him, as the camera lens is covered. Authorities could not immediately verify the authenticity of the video, though it matched their description of what occurred.

Montana Miller, an assistant professor of popular culture at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, said Biggs' very public suicide was not shocking, given the way teenagers chronicle every facet of their lives on sites like Facebook and MySpace.

"If it's not recorded or documented then it doesn't even seem worthwhile," she said. "For today's generation it might seem, `What's the point of doing it if everyone isn't going to see it?'"

She likened Biggs' death to other public ways of committing suicide, like jumping off a bridge.

Crane said she knows of a case in which a Florida man shot himself in the head in front of an online audience, though she didn't know how much viewers saw. In Britain last year, a man hanged himself while chatting online.

In a statement, Justin.tv CEO Michael Seibel said: "We regret that this has occurred and want to respect the privacy of the broadcaster and his family during this time."

The Web site would not say how many people were watching the broadcast. The site as a whole had 672,000 unique visitors in October, according to Nielsen.

Miami lawyer William Hill said there is probably nothing that could be done legally to those who watched and did not act. As for whether the Web site could be held liable, Hill said there doesn't seem to be much of a case for negligence.

"There could conceivably be some liability if they knew this was happening and they had some ability to intervene and didn't take action," said Hill, who does business litigation and has represented a number of Internet-based clients. But "I think it would be a stretch."

Condolences poured into Biggs' MySpace page, where the mostly unsmiling teen is seen posing in a series of pictures with various young women. On the bodybuilding Web site, Biggs used the screen name CandyJunkie. His Justin.tv alias was "feels_like_ecstacy."

Rosalind Bigg described her brother as an outgoing person who struck up conversations with Starbucks baristas and enjoyed taking his young nieces to Chuck E. Cheese. He was health-conscious and exercised but was not a bodybuilder, she said.

"This is very, very sudden and unexpected for us," the sister said. "It boggles the mind. We don't understand."

___

Associated Press Writers Jessica Gresko and Lisa Orkin Emmanuel and the AP News Research Center in New York contributed to this report.

I dont take this lightly & if anyone even remotely said to me they were possibly thinking about it id do all i cld to get help to them. Evenn if i was wrong in the end & they werent serious i wouldnt apologize for careing.

THNX for your post CS.

Geeeeeeeeez!!!

There is another thread about that in current events.
I said on there that it bothers me most that it took people such a long time to react. The poor chap could possibly have been saved.

my thoughts also

Geeeeeeeeez!!! what? what would you have done?

To be honest, I doubt this is anything that I would have found out about any other way than after the fact. I'm not a streaming video type person.

But if you were??

Once again, I'll be honest, probably wouldn't do anything. Part of me would want to, but part of me knows that it's his decision (which means it's none of my business). I don't know what this man's quality of life is. Maybe he's in physical pain 24/7, maybe he's just wanting attention, either way, this is how he's acting out.

Don't forget that males have a very high rate of success with suicide. The sincerity of purpose with a male in these events is usually greater.

Look politically, I'm for assisted suicide. Have no problem with it. I see no reason that a person shouldn't have a right to self determination, even when that leads to it's final end. We wouldn't stop a soldier from going on a suicide mission, why stop a civilian?

The purpose for each purpose in doing so maybe?

i understand your stance on this and will respect it.

i'd rather have an honest answer than one that's not.

I'm not a streaming videoer either, but I would call 911 because I would not know where else to call! I don't think people who are killing themselves because they have a terminal disease do it on a public web cam. This kid needed help!
What a f*cked up deal!

sure is - thnx for your input.

I would have reported it. Normal adults don't act that way even if they do just want attention, at least I don't think they do anyway.. I read the guy was taking anti-depressants. One has to wonder if they actually contributed to the outcome since studies have proven them to have the opposite effect on some people.

I thought when you commit suicide...the purpose is to NOT be saved...

This guy may not have wanted to be save, but I'm sure there was someone who wanted him to be.

I would not have continued to watch past the point where I found out what it was about.
But I don't think I would have interfered – whether I thought it was for real or not.

thnx, Sky,

i can understand all the diff. feelings going on here. and can relate to them.

maybe a diff. scenario might pull it into focus.

a family driving alligator alley in Fl. looses control and ends up in the canal running along the side of the road. Your in a car behind them, and see this happening, what would be your response in this instance??

this is a true story also of which i was personally involed with.

I would most definitely stop and see what I could do to help.

But it wouldn't have occurred to me to put this in the same category of the suicide because the suicide was a purposeful choice but the auto accident was not.