I missed this story when it first came out.

A Kitty Genovese story for our times.

Teen's dad, expert: Viewers of webcast suicide played role

By Oren Dorell, USA TODAY
When Abraham Biggs broadcast the last moments of his life on the Internet, he joined a small fraternity of troubled young people who gained notoriety through death.

Biggs, 19, broadcast live from a bedroom in his Hollywood, Fla., home Wednesday as he talked of suicide, took pills and lay down to die. Some viewers egged him on, then discussed whether what they had seen was real.

The Broward County Medical Examiner confirmed Sunday it was. Biggs, a student at Broward College, died of a combination of benzodiazepines, which he was prescribed for bipolar disorder, and opiates.

Police found him dead in his father's bed 12 hours after he declared on a bodybuilding website that he planned to take his life.

Keith Whitworth, a professor of sociology at Texas Christian University who studies Internet fraud and social networking sites, said Biggs' act is similar to suicide pacts in Japan and school shootings in the USA that end with suicide: All are well planned by people seeking fame.

"It ends with a suicide, but knowing that afterward it will be widely disseminated," he said.

Biggs' father, Abraham Biggs Sr., said those who watched, and the website operators, share some blame in his son's death. "I think they are all equally wrong," he said. "As a human being, you don't watch someone in trouble and sit back and just watch."

Some viewers contacted the website to notify police, but the police did not arrive in time.

Whitworth said the anonymity of the Internet may cause some users to behave in ways they wouldn't in person.

"Those individuals who were egging Mr. Biggs on in essence were able to depersonalize," he said. "They would not do it face to face, but in the computer medium they were able to absolve themselves of any personal responsibility for their actions."

They are "absolutely not" absolved, he said, but they also cannot be held accountable.

Biggs' audience may have had reason to be confused about what was going on. Pembroke Pines police investigators said some users told them they did not take Biggs seriously because he had threatened suicide on the site before. Whitworth said it was not clear to viewers whether Biggs had done what he said or whether it was a ploy to get attention.

"You're viewing it live, but is it real?" Whitworth said. "Technology blurs the lines between reality and that which is not real."

He said there has been at least one other Internet suicide: Kevin Whitrick, 42, hanged himself in front of his webcam while others watched in 2007 in Britain.

Whitworth worries others will follow. "If they see that this is one way of getting national and international attention," he said, "there is the fear that there will be copycat incidents."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-11-23-suicide_N.htm

When I first read this I felt a dagger go through my heart. I feel most of all for his Dad. If only sharing his pain could take away a little of it...

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

I don't see how viewers of this, even if they egged this fellow on, are responsible in any way. Legally or otherwise. Sure, they may be sick and twisted but legally responsible? Where will this end? You get irate with someone, tell them to FOAD, they off themselves and you are responsible? He swallowed the pills and knew exactly what he was doing. Did he need psychological help? Most surely. Should someone have done something sooner. Yup. This is not at all like Kitty Genovese. She was attacked and killed, and people ignored her cries for help. There was a third party involved, an attacker. Lets hold Biggs responsible for swallowing the pills and NOT dialing 911 to save himself from himself!

The notoriety this crap gets takes away from the struggle of anyone who is terminally ill and actually WANTS to live.

RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
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I don't see why this is any more bothersome than a normal suicide - regardless of the encouragement by a bunch of anonymous idiots online that NONE OF US should pay too much attention to. People who commit suicide are (a) very shortsighted and (b) very attention-seeking. That someone would "broadcast" their suicide doesn't surprise me at all, and it should be treated with the same distain as any other suicide. I've had friends who opted for this route, and I've always thought that it's such a stupid way out - just because he felt down and out at 19 doesn't mean he was going to feel that way at 32. He cheated himself out of a wonderful opportunity of a long life. Stupid.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

I can imagine that there was a lot of cynicism as to whether what people were seeing was real or not. I tend to not believe half the stuff I see on the internet.

Having kids of my own, I can't imagine the pain that a parent must feel at losing a child. That would only be compounded if they had died by their own hand. The boy who lived next door to me commited suicide in the last year. His mother came home from work and discovered her twenty-something year old son hanging from the rafters in the basement. His funeral was one of the saddest I have ever attended.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

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No legal ramifications on those that looked on and encouraged the boy to go through with it...as stated earlier, no different than a throng of folks jeering at a hapless individual balancing precariously at the edge of a tall building.

I think most folks don't have the malice to want an individual to do himself in...it's mostly a lack of understanding, interpreting the act as a way to gain some form of sick fame.

Truthfully, suicide is the last act of despair...done so silently indicates that they have given up on help from loved ones and through other means...performing the act publicly shows a last desperate appeal for help.

These are stressful times...this will only set a precedence for more of the same to follow...

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Mean people suck.....This was very painful for me to read but obviously the only way this child could get the attention he so desparately needed. What do you expect in a time of horribly competitive not to mention mean and nasty "Reality TV" shows than for kids who's brain cells aren't in the right firing order to begin with, to egg this child on? This is a wake up call to find a way to connect with your children and maintain some kind of dialog.

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Ditto.

X2

And hats off to Mistress' post as well.

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1980 300D - Veggie Burner !

Exactly, my life is currently f**** up beyond recognition but I have ZERO intention of doing anything drastic and stupid like this.

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"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

We don't know what the pathology of this child was.......mental illness requires addressing the chemical imbalances if any, along with the environmental factors involved.

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

I know. Its just a tragedy that could and should have been avoided. A tear rolls down every time I hear a story like this or some kid goes on a shooting spree at school.

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

How can you tell that he would have had a long wonderful life? Maybe it would have also been bad? Who can say. He is an adult and I respect his decision.

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Not so hapless. He got himself there.

Is is a way to gain fame. If not, why didn't he off himself quietly? Why publish it on the net?

Maybe there is no way loved ones could have done anything.

Maybe he is like Brett Farve. Threatening to retire a few times just so he can have people beg him to stay. Same thing here.

Good. Let the weak fall off and the strong survive. Such it is according to life and Darwin.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
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04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

That's YOUR decision to make. He is an adult. What gives you the right to tell him that his decision is wrong for him?

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow