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http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1088173/Teenager-commits-suicide-live-online-1-500-people-watch-video-stream.htmlTeenager commits suicide live online while 1,500 people watch video stream
By Debra Killalea
Last updated at 7:32 PM on 21st November 2008
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Abraham K Biggs
Abraham Biggs took a fatal drugs overdose while broadcasting it on the internet
A teenager committed suicide in front of a live webcam as 1,500 people watching online egged him on.
Abraham Biggs, 19, told users on a bodybuilding forum he would be committing suicide that night and invited them to watch the live video.
Forum moderators allegedly ignored the post – assuming it was a prank – while other users posted insults and even encouraged him.
The teen used the 'lifecasting' website Justin.tv – designed to let users share the minutiae of their everyday lives – to stream footage from his bedroom.
Biggs, from Florida, was seen taking pills before lying on the bed with his back to the camera.
Users claim they only realised it was serious a few hours later when they saw he wasn't breathing.
Moderators then traced Biggs's location and informed authorities.
The webcam was still streaming live footage of the teen's body as police entered the room yesterday.
A laser-guided weapon was pointed at the body and an object was thrown at the bed.
Police officers then appeared on the video as they approached the teen's body, checked for a pulse, and covered up the webcam.
Biggs’s death was reportedly confirmed by the Broward County medical examiner.
Justin.tv chief executive officer Michael Seibel told online video news website NewTeeVee.com the service relied on users to report inappropriate content.
'As for the broadcaster incident last night, we don’t comment on individual videos, however, our policy prohibits inappropriate content on Justin.tv,' he said.
Abraham K Biggs
A police officer can be seen in this final shot of the video, which was still running when they entered the room
'We rely on the community to flag videos that they feel are objectionable. Once a video is flagged, it is reviewed and quickly removed from the system if it violates our Terms of Use.'
Some forum users allegedly began deleting their posts after the incident and an official thread – including Biggs' full name – was posted by moderators.
In his suicide note he wrote: 'I am an a******. I have let everyone down and I feel as though I will never change or never improve. I am in love with a girl and I know that I am not good enough for her.'
'I have come to believe that my life has all been meaningless. I keep trying and I
keep failing.
'I have thought about and attempted suicide many times in the past.'
Biggs's friends have posted 'RIP' messages on his MySpace page, with some still asking him to pick up his phone, and others changing their statuses to 'devastated'.
The teen described himself as a 'good hearted guy' on his social networking profile.
'I care a lot about my friends and my family and I would do almost anything for them,'
he said.
'I am very goal oriented, I know what I want to do with my life and I am working towards it.'
Biggs last posted on MySpace three days before he committed suicide in a wall post about taking sleeping pills.
Abraham K Biggs
The teenager, pictured on his MySpace page, said he felt like a failure
A week ago he left a message about closing a chapter in his life and apologised to his friends for his behaviour.
The circumstances of the teen's suicide are similar to another incident last year, when a man hung himself in front of a live webcam as internet users egged him on.
His death echoes that of British man Kevin Whitrick, from Shropshire, who also killed himself in front of a webcam while at least 100 other people watched.
Mr Whitrick was encouraged by other users on the Paltalk website with one user telling him 'F***** do it. Just get on with it.'
The deaths have sparked a wave of concern following 17 internet-related suicides within the UK since 2001.
Mr BIGGS' SUICIDE NOTE IN FULL
To Whom It May Concern,
I am going to leave this for whoever stumbles across my bookmarks later on.
I hate myself and I hate living.
Abraham K Biggs
Mr Biggs warned that he was going to kill himself in a posting on a chat forum
I think that if someone who knows me reads this they will know who I am. So I will leave this unsigned.
I am an a******. I have let everyone down and I feel as though I will never change or never improve.
I am in love with a girl and I know that I am not good enough for her. I have come to believe that my life has all been meaningless.
I keep trying and I keep failing. I have thought about and attempted suicide many times in the past.
I used to think of my failure as some mystical way of telling me that I was really meant for something meaningful. The only thing I dread, besides the pain, is the way my family will suffer.
I do not want my mother or father to think that it was anything they did that lead me
to kill myself.
I never really had any plans of leaving a note. I thought that I would not be able to describe why I want to do this and I am right.
There is no way to tell you or anyone else why I dread every new day.
My father had such high expectations for me and tried to give me every opportunity to improve upon myself. I let him down.
I think that I am a major disappointment to him. I have a job but I'm always broke and I am in college but barely, I show up to class but that's about it.
I want my life to end. I am tired of f*****g up everything. I am tired of people always telling me that they do not like me. I am tired of trying to be decent. I hope that someone finds this post and I hope that my parents know that I f****d up not them.
It is my fault I screwed up my own life. The hate that rages within me, rages not for those I love so dearly or those who have crossed my path. This hate rages full force towards me and only me.
I have long forgiven those who've hurt me, but I have not and cannot come to terms to forgive myself for the things I have done to myself, and the things I've done to hurt those in my life.
You have all touched my life in one way or another, especially those whom I call family.
I cannot tell you how sorry I am for ending my life the way I did.
I hope that you can all find it in your heart to see it as way for me not suffering anymore and that I am finally at rest with myself, for being at rest with the guilt that constantly ate at me for so long.
Please forgive me all for taking my own life so early. I tried so hard to fight against this strong battle.
I have reached out for help so many times, and yet I believe, I was turned away because of the things I did, that it is a punishment I am willing to take, for I know that being who I am has only brought myself and others pain.
I love you all and will forever live within the memories we created.
Forgive me.
Love always and forever,
As for my signature I will leave you with a quote so that if anyone
reads this they will know it's me, 'Can't feel pain if your dead? Just Saying.'
Topic: Teenager commits suicide live on webcam infront of 1500 people. (Read 562 times)