Losing a child is a traumatic and deeply saddening experience for any parent. When a child has taken his or her own life, a parent may feel an extra sting, thinking perhaps something could have been done to prevent the death. One Pennsylvania mother began looking into what may have prompted her own daughter to end her own life, and she discovered that a website may have contributed to what surely seems a wrongful death.
The distraught mother began to look through her deceased daughter’s online history, hoping to find clues surrounding the circumstances of the death. By all accounts, the artistic young woman loved to draw, had friends and was a big fan of the Harry Potter books. After some digging, the woman found that her daughter, who was 25 when she passed away, frequented a forum website that admittedly gave users advice on various ways to commit suicide.
The mother was horrified and contacted law enforcement, who launched an investigation into the website and the adults that run it. The moderators of the forum claim that they do not encourage suicide, but support people who make the choice to end their lives. Of course, a visitor to the forum, especially one suffering from depression, may be encouraged by the website to do the unthinkable.
When a death occurs in Pennsylvania that was caused by the negligence of another, surviving family members may want to hold that party accountable for wrongful death in a court of law. In many cases, an experienced attorney can help prove that a death was the result of such circumstances, and could have been prevented. And attorney can help the executor of a victim’s estate pursue recovery of any monetary damages that may be appropriate on behalf of the estate to cover final expenses and other financial matters that follow such a tragic death.