Lori Drew Pleads Not Guilty in Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Case

Megan Meier

Lori Drew, the infamous Mom next door and alleged villain in the Megan Meier MySpace Suicide story, plead not guilty in a Los Angeles Federal Court on June 17th to charges of conspiracy and accessing computers without authorization.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Drew plead not guilty in a "proceeding that last only a few minutes".

ALSO at DBKP.com: Megan Meier MySpace Suicide, Lori Drew: DBKP Library of Stories Over 40 DBKP stories and videos on the Megan Meier MySpace Suicide case--from DBKP: the place who coined "MySpace Suicide" and had the story first on the Net!

Drew was indicted on May 15 by a Los Angeles Federal Grand Jury. DBKP's Megan Meier MySpace Suicide: Lori Drew Indicted details Drew's alleged involvement in a case that stunned not only a bedroom community of St. Louis, Missouri, but the entire nation.

Megan Meier was about to turn 14 when she hanged herself in the closet of her room. Megan's parents, Tina and Ron Meier, allege that Megan's suicide was acerbated by the alleged antics of Drew, a long time neighbor and Mom of a former childhood friend of Megan.

Megan had opened a MySpace account shortly before her 14th birthday with the permission of her parents. Megan then met a boy named Josh on MySpace who said he was 16, new to her area, and interested in an online "friendship". The two spent several weeks communicating via MySpace until shortly before her birthday Josh began to post abusive comments about Megan's appearance and friends which culminated in an online fight. Megan committed suicide after a comment was posted by Josh which intimated the world "would be a better place" without Megan.

It was weeks later that the Meiers discovered that there wasn't any "Josh", that he was a fake online personality, and that the person behind "Josh" was a long time neighbor and friend, 46-yr-old Lori Drew.

Drew denies any involvement and blames a 17-yr-old employee, Ashley Grills. Grills, who tried to commit suicide after the circumstances surrounding Megan's death hit the news and the neighborhood, claims Drew was the instigator, that Drew wanted to "monitor" what Megan had to say about Drew's daughter. St. Charles County prosecutor's investigated and declined to press any charges. The Los Angeles Federal Prosecutor's office then stepped in and held Grand Jury hearings. Drew was indicted on conspiracy and unauthorized use of a computer.

The trial is scheduled for July 29.



By LBG

Image - Megan Meier

Lori Drew Indicted in Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Case

The infamous mother in the Megan Meier Myspace Suicide case, Lori Drew, has been indicted by a Los Angeles federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain private information.

Drew's indictments come as a surprise to many as the local authorities where the case transpired, in O'Fallon, Missouri, and the FBI, declined to press charges after investigating the Megan Meiers Myspace case.

Back in December, St. Charles County prosecutor Jack Banas announced his office would not file charges against Drew because she hadn't "broken any laws".

Drew had admitted in a police report that she had "set up" a fake MySpace page to "monitor" what her daughter's ex-friend, Megan Meier, was posting about her daughter on Megan's MySpace page. Drew later recanted, claiming she wasn't involved, that the police report was filled with errors.

Banas had said that the St. Charles County prosecutor's office couldn't "prove" that Drew or Grills had meant their messages to be a form of "harassment" even though Megan's mother claims the messages from the fake 16-year-old "Josh" had grown increasingly mean, culminating in a final message posted the day Megan hanged herself in her bedroom closet, that the "world would be a better place without you".

Megan had set up a MySpace page with the permission of her parents. She had told her parents about "Josh", a boy on MySpace who claimed he was new to her area. For weeks the "two" exchanged messages until shortly before Megan was to celebrate her 14th birthday.

It wasn't until after Megan's death that her parents were informed by a neighbor that "Josh" wasn't a 16-year-old boy but a concoction made up by their neighbor, a woman in her forties with a daughter who was a former friend of Megan's, Lori Drew.

Drew claims she wasn't involved even though she filed a police report stating she was instrumental in devising the web page as a way to "keep tabs" on what "Megan was saying about her daughter". Drew then claimed it was all her 17-year-old employee, Ashley Grill's idea, that Drew had nothing to do with it.

DBKP has been following the MySpace Suicide story and finds it highly unlikely that Grills, an employee of Drew, would take it on herself to create a fake persona on MySpace in order to chat up a 13-year-old neighbor girl she was not acquainted with. Megan had been Drew's daughter's off-and-on again friend for years.

Grills testified before a Los Angeles federal grand jury that it was Drew who suggested creating the fake page but that it was Grills who set it up. Grills also testified that Drew helped write some of the messages from "Josh".

Megan took her life in November of 2006, it wasn't until January 2008 that a Los Angeles federal grand jury began issuing subpoenas in what is now known as the Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Case.

Read more Megan Meier MySpace Suicide: Lori Drew Indicted at DBKP.com

By LBG

Image - Evil Wine
Source - LA Times - L.A. Grand Jury Issues subpoenas in Web Suicide Case
Source - ABC News - No Charges Filed in MySpace Suicide
Source - MSNBC - Mom Indicted in MySpace Suicide Case


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