Teen Uses Social Networking Site To End Life

By: Mary Couchman
Staff Writer
Published: Nov 24, 2008

A Florida college student used an online social networking service to end his life. The father is appalled by the Webcam audience that egged his son on. Some groups are calling for tougher regulation of social Internet sites.

A 19-year-old Broward College student committed suicide by taking a lethal drug overdose in front of a live social networking Web site. Abraham Biggs Jr was found dead after some of the Internet viewers contacted the website and notified local police.

Police entered the home and found Biggs dead. Officers quickly turned off the webcam. The Broward County Medical Examiner's Office said Biggs died from a combination of opiates and benzodiazepine. The drugs are used to treat anxiety and insomnia.

It is unclear why Biggs had chosen a social networking service to end his life. His family said he was suffering from bipolar disorder and manic depression.

"I hate myself and I hate living," Biggs said in a message posted on the social networking site. The message also said he had suicidal thoughts and tried suicide several times in the past.

The father, Abraham Biggs Sr., says the Web site operators and those who watched from their webcams share some blame in his son's death.

Dr. Jon Shaw, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Miami School of Medicine, said the blog and webcam probably contributed to the suicide.