Trial to decide if bullying that led to suicide is manslaughter

On December 21, 2016, Kenneth Suttner placed a series of notes in his bedroom and disappeared into the woods behind his parents’ house. That night the 17-year-old put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

In Glasgow, Missouri, a town of barely 1,000 people, it didn’t take long for the rumor mill to start churning: There were whispers that Suttner had been bullied at school and at work. The police began investigating. The county coroner called his own investigation.

In the end, a young woman was led away in handcuffs on an unprecedented charge — second degree manslaughter — and she’s now facing criminal responsibility for what some say was simply being mean.

This segment originally aired June 6, 2017, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.