/crime
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Jury deliberations began Tuesday in the trial of a Missouri woman accused in the case of a girl who committed suicide after she was criticized on the Web site MySpace.com.
Megan Meier, 13, hanged herself in her bedroom after being targeted in a MySpace hoax.
Lori Drew, 49, of O'Fallon, Missouri, is accused of fraudulently using the site to pose as a teenage boy who feigned romantic interest in the girl, Megan Meier, 13.
Meier committed suicide in October 2006 after the "boy" spurned her, at one point telling her the world would be a better place without her, according to prosecutors.
At the time of her death, Meier's family and Drew's family lived near each other.
Drew is charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress on Meier, who is identified in court documents as M.T.M.
Each count against Drew carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction.
Closing arguments in the case concluded Monday, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in the Central District of California.
Drew was indicted in May.
The indictment was returned in Los Angeles, California, because MySpace is based there.
All About MySpace Inc. • Internet • Criminal Trials • Lori Drew
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