Megan Meier MySpace Suicide: Prosecutors Question Drew’s Employee
Prosecutors in Los Angeles questioned Lori Drew’s employee, Ashley Grill, before a Grand Jury over the Megan Meier MySpace suicide case. Grill, who was 17 when Megan Meier committed suicide in October of 2006, testified that she did not act alone in setting up a fake MySpace account used to pull a hoax on the 13-year-old Megan. Grill’s testimony could begin to peel away the fake facade of innocence maintained by Lori Drew through her attorneys.
Grills, who attempted to take her own life after Megan ended hers, stated that while she was responsible for setting up the profile of the fake 16-year-old boy named “Josh Evans”, that Lori Drew and her daughter were also involved in the cruel online hoax.
Megan and her family lived just a few doors down from the Drews in a quiet suburb of St. Louis where the two girls were friends since elementary school. When the girls reached the 7th grade the relationship had become on-again, off-again, with Megan transitioning to a new school. Megan had asked her parents if she could open a MySpace account, after all, all the other kids were doing it too. Megan’s parents agreed but counseled their daughter to be careful, to be wary of the people she met online. Megan met a boy on MySpace who said his name was Josh Evans, he was 16 and he lived in her area.
Megan’s parents warned her to be careful but the online relationship with Josh seemed harmless and made Megan happy. Megan, like many girls her age, was insecure and unable to see her own unique qualities that made her special. After a period of about six weeks the relationship with Josh took a sharp turn with Josh telling Megan that “she was mean to her friends”.
On October 16th, Megan went to school with invitations to her upcoming 14th birthday party. She had picked out a new dress and when she returned home from school she asked her mother to log onto the computer so Megan could see if Josh had posted any new messages to her. Megan wanted to know why Josh had been “so mean” to her.
Tina logged on but had to leave to take her other daughter to an appointment. Before she left she could see that Megan was still upset, evidently Josh’s newest messages troubled Megan. Tina, in a hurry to get to the orthodontist’s appointment told Megan to sign off.
“I will Mom,” Megan told her. “Let me finish up.”
Tina called Megan when she reached the dentist’s office and asked Megan if she had signed off. “No, Mom,” Megan said, “they’re are all being so mean to me.” Again Tina told Megan to sign off. Fifteen minutes later Megan, crying, called her mother. “They are posting bulletins about me. Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is a fat ass.” Tina was angry at Megan for not signing off, Megan was crying hysterically.
When Tina got home she went to the basement where the family computer was set up and found Megan still online, engaged in a cyberfight, using the kind of language which shocked Tina. “I’m so aggravated at you for doing this” she told Megan. Megan, clearly upset, ran from the computer then stopped and said to her Mother, “You’re supposed to be my Mom! You’re supposed to be on my side!”
Megan’s Dad, Ron, ran into Megan on the second floor landing of the Meier home. Ron grabbed Megan. He said that Megan told him that kids were saying “horrible stuff about her” and she didn’t understand why. “I told her it’s okay, I told her they obviously don’t know her and that it would be fine.”
Megan went into her bedroom while Ron went downstairs to the kitchen where he and Tina talked about Megan and the MySpace account while they made dinner. Twenty minutes later a feeling of dread overcame Tina,”I had this God-awful feeling and I ran up into her room and she had hung herself in the closet.
Megan was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead the next day. Ron opened up Megan’s MySpace account and saw what he thought was the final message posted by “Josh” to Megan:
“Everybody in O’Fallon knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you.”
The day after Megan died Ron and Tina made the trip down the street to the house where Megan’s old friend lived, the daughter of Lori Drew, to tell her that Megan valued their friendship. They even returned to help celebrate the girl’s father’s 50th birthday and agreed to store a foosball table in their garage for the Drews.
Six weeks later the Meier’s lives turned upside down once again when another neighbor told them to meet her at their grief counselor’s office. The Meier’s were stunned to find out that the boy Josh Evans was never real, that he was made up, not by some internet stranger, but by the mother of Megan’s friend, Lori Drew. The same family that asked the Meiers to store their foosball table in the Meiers’ garage, the same family that the Meiers had walked down to comfort the day after Megan’s death.
Lori Drew
Lori Drew denies she was involved in the MySpace hoax. Drew has hidden behind her attorneys and claims she is innocent even though the computer used to send the fake MySpace messages was located in the Drew home. That other witnesses claim Lori Drew asked Ashley Grill to set up the fake Josh Evans so that Lori could spy on Megan and see what Megan had posted about Lori Drew’s daughter on MySpace.
Lori Drew has, through her attorneys, denied all involvement in the fake MySpace hoax and yet when she called the cops on November 25, 2006, to complain about the Meiers not giving her a chance to tell her “side” of the story she filed a police report where she admitted that she, along with Ashley Grill had set up the fake MySpace account.
Police Report dated November 25, 2006
“Drew explained she wanted to “just tell them†what she did to contribute to the Meier’s daughters suicide. Drew stated in the months leading up Meier’s daughter’s suicide, she instigated and monitored a “my space†account which was created for the sole purpose of communicating with Meier’s daughter. Drew said she, with the help of temporary employee named “Ashley,†constructed a profile of “good looking†male on “my space†in order to “find out what Megan (Meier’s daughter) was saying on on-line about her daughter. Drew explained the communication between the fake male profile and Megan was aimed at gaining Megan’s confidence and finding out what Megan felt about her daughter and other people. Drew stated the she, her daughter and Ashley all typed, read and monitored the communication between the fake male profile and Megan. Drew went on to say, the communication became “sexual for a thirteen year old.†Drew stated she continued to fake male profile despite the development.†Source – Smoking Gun
Letter written by Lori Drew included in Police Report:
Drew now claims that the police report was in error and yet she herself called the cops and filed the report. The St. Charles District Attorney declined to press any charges against Drew but now prosecutors in Los Angeles are going after Drew, trying to claim her actions in creating the fake MySpace account constituted fraud perpetrated against MySpace.
Megan Meiers, Ashley Grill
Grills should be commended for coming forward and admitting her part in the whole sordid affair which ended in a young girl hanging herself in her bedroom closet. One of the supreme ironies was that Drew and Grill posted messages that Megan was a “fat ass” and yet the photo of Grill shows an obese 19-year-old girl while photos of Lori Drew show a frumpy overweight middle-aged woman. We find it hard to believe that Grill would have set up the MySpace account to go after Megan on her own, she was merely an employee of Drew’s. It was Drew whose daughter had a off-again, on-again friendship with Megan, it was Drew’s house where the fake Josh Evan’s MySpace account originated from, it was Drew’s husband who told everyone to “get rid” of the MySpace account after Megan died. Hopefully Lori Drew will be next to have to testify before the Los Angeles Grand Jury.
In the meantime, the trees are beginning to bud and new grass has sprouted in the quiet neighborhood in suburban St. Louis that the Meiers and Drews still call home. Several communities have enacted cyberbully laws in the aftermath of Megan’s death. Megan was buried in the new dress she had picked out for her 14th birthday party while Lori Drew has become a pariah of her own making.
By LBG
Source – DBKP – MySpace Cruel Prank Leads to Teen’s Suicide
Source – DBKP – Megan Meier MySpace Suicide: Cruel Hoaxers Outed, Let the Lesser Outrage Begin
Source and Image - ABC News – Exclusive: Teen Talks About Her Role in Web Hoax That Led To Suicide
Image – Lori Drew
Image - MySpace
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
[...] intactinfonHProsecutors in Los Angeles questioned Lori Drew’s employee, Ashley Grill, before a Grand Jury over the Megan Meier MySpace individual case. Grill, who was 17 when Megan Meier bound individual in Oct of 2006, testified that she did not … [...]
[...] unknownnHProsecutors in Los Angeles questioned Lori Drew’s employee, Ashley Grill, before a Grand Jury over the Megan Meier MySpace individual case. Grill, who was 17 when Megan Meier bound individual in Oct of 2006, testified that she did not … [...]
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SOOOOO Lori Drew’s a liar. And the law in MO is helping her cover up her murder?
Surprise… NOT
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[...] person is still being sought over the robbery.http://www.qt.com.au/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3767485Megan Meier MySpace Suicide: Grand Jury InvestigationProsecutors in Los Angeles questioned Lori Drew??s employee, Ashley Grill, before a Grand Jury over [...]
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[...] * Megan Meier MySpace Suicide: Prosecutors Question Drew’s Employee [...]
What Drew and Grills did was cruel and malicious but it was not murder.
Megan chose to end her own life, no-one took it from her.
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Adam Reply:
December 3rd, 2008 at 03:33
“What Drew and Grills did was cruel and malicious but it was not murder.”
Congratulations… she was never being charged with murder. Shouldn’t have happened anyhow and now hopefully she’ll pay (not just monetarily)
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I was replying to the comment by Fighter. Many people have described what Lori Drew did as a “murder” and it think it needs to be clarified.
No need for the sarcasm.. we actually agree.
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ON MURDER:
“For a killing to be considered murder, there normally needs to be an element of intent. For this argument to be successful the killer generally needs to demonstrate that they took precautions not to kill and that the death could not have been anticipated or was unavoidable, whatever action they took. As a general rule, manslaughter constitutes reckless killing, while criminally negligent homicide is a grossly negligent killing.”
“The definition of murder has evolved over several centuries. Under most modern statutes in the United States, murder comes in four varieties: (1) intentional murder; (2) a killing that resulted from the intent to do serious bodily injury; (3) a killing that resulted from a depraved heart or extreme recklessness; and (4) murder committed by an Accomplice during the commission of, attempt of, or flight from certain felonies.”
“Maine has simplified the law of murder. In Maine, a person is guilty of murder if he or she intentionally or knowingly causes the death of another human being, engages in conduct that manifests a depraved indifference to the value of human life and causes death, or intentionally or knowingly causes another human being to commit suicide by the use of force, duress, or deception (Me. Stat. tit. 17-A § 201 [1996]). Maine also has a felony murder statute. It does not divide murder into degrees.”
*****************
In this case, there is the admission of the Drew daughter that she knew Megan was suicidal long before the action began. Drew’s own police statement specified that she, Grills and the Drew daughter were working together to harass and spy on Megan. The younger Drew admitted to early knowledge of Megan’s suicidal episodes, and the idea that she, somehow, never mentioned these to the other two people with whom she was actively trying to induce psychological trauma is simply ridiculous, and an obvious case of Lori Drew using her daughter to protect herself, just as she used her employee (Grills). They can hardly claim that: “…they took precautions not to kill and that the death could not have been anticipated or was unavoidable, whatever action they took.”
These people are responsible for the death of Megan, exactly as a drunk driver is responsible for the death that is caused when he runs another car off the road into a fatal tree – no contact is required – but the death is laid at the door of the one who behaved recklessly, without taking precautions not to kill in a situation where a death could be anticipated. Such deaths are generally called third degree murder or manslaughter.
It is obvious, that in the State of Maine, their crime is ALREADY covered as murder (since 1996):
“…or intentionally or knowingly causes another human being to commit suicide by the use of force, duress, or deception (Me. Stat. tit. 17-A § 201 [1996]).”
Again, one of the conspirators admitted knowing of Megan’s past suicidal episodes, as well as stating that she “tell’s her mother everything except about boys”. Lori, Drew, in her own statement to the police, described the three of them working closely together to monitor the account, and teaming up to write the correspondence that eventually brought about Megan’s death.
quote from police report: ” Drew stated the she, her daughter and Ashley all typed, read and monitored the communication between the fake male profile and Megan. Drew went on to say, the communication became “sexual for a thirteen year old.†Drew stated she continued to fake male profile despite the development.â€
Is it even possible to believe that death could not be anticipated?
Murderers. Plain and simple. – Not first or second degree, lacking the direct intent to kill (as far as anyone can prove), but certainly in the third degree, as they could have easily (and surely did) anticipate that death by suicide may well result from their reckless and malicious behavior.
The ability of Lori Drew to use her daughter and employee as tools in her attack, and then as a shield from responsibility, puts this woman solidly among the infamous, and will surely earn her, and her family name a stain that will carry along through generations. The fact that her husband’s only concern was to erase the false Myspace account in stead of trying to figure out or rectify the situation simply makes it plain – the Drew family is the worst kind of malicious trash. The kind of people who, when moving into a neighborhood, precipitates the purchasing of bars, locks and night lights, the implementation of neighborhood watch groups, and the mass exodus of people of good will.
And rightfully so.
Do not do business with them, do not serve them, do not deiver to them, do not speak to them, protest their presence in your town, your church, your school, your neighborhood. Surely there is an empty trailer in Arkansas jyst waiting for these folks.
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Shawn Reply:
July 25th, 2009 at 19:56
The hell you say! You can keep that nasty Missouri trash. Arkansas doesn’t want them! I’m sure there’s room in your hovel for them.
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Megan Meier deserved to die for lack of value on her life. Laurie didn’t kill her, she didn’t put a gun to her head, and she didn’t put the knife in her hand. Oh poor me a boy don’t like me, ah a bully said I have cooties, oh no…MOMMY…….. This is AMERICA and people get picked on daily. Survival of the fittest and obviously she didn’t have the means to survive. Megan AND ONLY MEAGAN choose to end her life because she was weak. Laurie didn’t want her to die, and anyone that thinks so is an idiot. Pisses me off that this is even nationalized get over it! Fact is Meagan was weak and its firkin bullshit that Drew is EVEN TRIED for manslaugter! You people are idiots! Oh no, I called you idiots, now go kill yourself… Millions of people have fake profiles, millions do not read the terms of conditions, there is NO WAY IN HELL I will give my name on a website, do you know the rate of identity theft. I like my privacy thank you very firkin much. I’m really pissed off at the mom to, raising her daughter that if she ever has a problem just commits suicide; she was never even responsible enough to use the internet. Yes it’s the parent’s fault that she died; maybe she should cap the alcohol and put the steak knives away. A little parenting would have told you that Megan had issues and she need mental help, which I’m also recommending you to get yourself because you’re not mentally capable of reproducing. Where was your support to your daughter? Why did you not teach your daughter how to IGNORE PEOPLE!! Hello, I have the choice to not respond to emails, phone calls, text messages, letters and all together have them deleted if I so choose to. NOW, if your daughter had even 1 brain cell she would have respectfully deleted this boy from her myspace and washed her hands with him and onto her life she goes. But she decided that this “boys” opinion was more than hers. Sounds like Megan was an idiot to me because someone that can handle the day to day would know tomorrow is another day, and the injury will soon fade. I was picked on when I was young and guess what, I’m still here. I don’t bully, I don’t encourage it and agree Laurie made a decision and she had to defend herself. Was she wrong? No she wasn’t , because If I needed some investigation done I too would do whatever I had to do to find out the truth. She said one thing that is world is a better place without you…hmmm well you know what…HOW IRONIC!! Without this happening this wouldn’t be national news, therefore bringing new laws in motion. It’s actually funny that although Megan wasn’t’ fit for life, she was motivation for laws. Again I don’t encourage bullying, I do shout out my thoughts on stupidity and Megan has caught my attention. But thankfully we don’t’ have Megan around to hear cry anymore, Just her mom. I hope she too follows her daughters destiny. Man! If I only had the magical wand to rid idiotic stupid whiners. We have freedom of speech, and if we want to create a fake profile then we can just do that. If we want to block our phone number from caller Id we can, if we want computer encryption WE CAN. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!!! This was a fake profile used to get inside information due to fact that Megan was probably a backstabbing backtalkin bitch, I don’t know her and neither do 99% of you so we’ll just leave it at that. And if same as saying goes for the kitchen if you can’t take the heat. If you can’t deal with life, then do the world a favor. And Meagan did just that!! I wouldn’t show emotions for someone that didn’t value their life either. Oh yeh I in no way whatsoEVER know Megan, Laurie or whoever her moms name is. So now Megan’s mom, you can go join your daughter because I hurt your poor feelings. I do feel for your loss, as I been in your shoes with “almost” the same circumstances, but I’m not trying to put the blame on anyone else, the only one that can be blamed is no longer with me. truejunkmail yahoo dot com
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