A courtroom witnessed the horrifying video that a teen took as he allegedly helped his friend commit suicide by buying her a noose and filming her death.
Tyerell Przybycien, 18, is charged with murder in the death of 16-year-old Jchandra Brown, a friend he allegedly helped commit suicide near Provo, Utah, on May 6.
The teenager went so far as to pick up Brown from her job, bought rope for her to hang herself with, drove her to a remote canyon and filmed her death, police claim.
In court on Wednesday, prosecutors played the cellphone video they said Przybycien made right before Brown died and several minutes after she hanged herself.
A voice could be heard calling out to Brown, ‘thumbs up if you’re OK’ and after 10 minutes passed, the man says, ‘that’s when the brain stops getting any oxygen.’
Tyerell Przybycien, 18, is charged with murder in the death of Jchandra Brown. He is accused of helping the 16-year-old kill herself near Provo, Utah, on May 6
Przybycien (left) allegedly bought her rope, drove Brown (right) to a remote canyon and filmed Brown hanging herself for 10 minutes. A court witnessed the horrifying footage on Wednesday
Officials claim the voice belongs to Przybycien and he can be heard calling out to Brown and getting no response, reported the Desert News.
Prosecutor Chad Grunander said Przybycien’s intentions make it a murder case, if an unusual one. He is charged with murder and desecration of a human body.
Authorities said Przybycien researched methods and exchanged text messages with a friend, saying he wanted to help Brown kill herself.
‘It’s like getting away with murder!’ he wrote, according to court documents.
At first, authorities thought Przybycien was a traumatized witness in the case, not a suspect, reported KSL.
Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Josh Chaplin testified on Wednesday and said: ‘Based on what he had told me, he had witnessed a traumatic event, and I was concerned. I wondered if we needed to get him help.’
Chaplin said Przybycien admitted that he picked Brown up, bought the rope and drove her to the location where she ultimately killed herself.
Police said Przybycien researched methods and texted a friend, saying he wanted to help Brown kill herself. ‘It’s like getting away with murder!’ he allegedly wrote
Next to Brown’s body was a cellphone with the 10-minute video Przybycien is accused of recording.
The horrifying footage was started in the court with Przybycien allegedly asking Brown to ‘say something, please’ as he recorded the girl hanging.
The voice continues to talk in the clip, saying ‘Um, are you there? Move or something,’ and ‘Thumbs up if you’re OK.’
The video ends with: ‘That’s when the brain stops getting any oxygen. I guess I’ll just leave this here now.’
Brown’s mother, Sue Bryan, accused Przybycien of being a predator and ‘grooming’ her daughter to go through with the suicide.
Brown’s aunt Polly Mejia added: ‘Her problem was she thought she’d found a friend and instead she’d found a monster.’
Brown’s (pictured) mother, Sue Bryan, accused Przybycien of being a predator and ‘grooming’ her daughter to go through with the suicide
A friend of Przybycien’s said that the day before Brown killed herself, Przybycien visited him and they talked about murder.
Another friend claims that Przybycien had texted her talking about suicide.
According to transcripts of the message, police claim that Przybycien wrote: ‘The thing is … I wanna help kill them. It be awesome.
‘Seriously I’m going to help her. It’s like getting away with murder! I’m so (expletive) up. I’m seriously not joking. Its going down in about a week or two.’
Przybycien was also charged with possessing child pornography after police found images of girls who appeared to be under the age of five as they searched his phone for evidence in the investigation of Brown’s death.
The hearing comes weeks after a Massachusetts woman, Michelle Carter, was sentenced to 15 months in jail following her conviction of involuntary manslaughter for encouraging her suicidal boyfriend to kill himself in dozens of text messages and telling him to ‘get back in’ a truck filled with toxic gas when she was a teenager.
Przybycien was also charged with possessing child pornography after police found images of girls who appeared to be under age five as they searched his phone for evidence in the investigation of the girl’s death
If you or someone you know needs help, call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. You can also text HELLO to 741-741 for free, 24-hour support from the Crisis Text Line. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention for a database of resources.