Nov 23, 2008 7:00 am US/Pacific
Father Blames Web Site, Viewers For Son's Death
PEMBROOK PINES, Fla. (CBS) ―
A South Florida teen broadcast his suicide live on the internet and his
father says those who watched the web site where it happened are
partially to blame for his son's death.
Last Wednesday, Abraham Biggs Jr., 19, posted on a web site for bodybuilders that he planned to take his own life and posted a link where those interested could watch. Within 12 hours of the posting, Biggs took a fatal drug overdose in front of an Internet audience.
Although some viewers contacted the Web site to notify police, Pembroke Pines police did not reach Biggs home in time.
Abraham Biggs Sr. said those who watched and the Web site operators share some blame for his son's death.
"I think they are all equally wrong," he said. "It's a person's life that we're talking about. And as a human being, you don't watch someone in trouble and sit back and just watch."
A computer user who claimed to have watched said after swallowing some pills, Biggs went to sleep and appeared to be breathing for a few hours. Some users told investigators they did not take him seriously because he had threatened suicide on the site before.
"I think after this incident and probably other incidents that have occurred in the past, they all point to some kind of regulation is necessary," Biggs said. "I think it is wrong to have this happen for hours without any action being taken from the people in charge. Where were they all the time?"
It is unclear how many people watched it happen. The Web site would not say how many people were watching the broadcast. The site as a whole had 672,000 unique visitors in October, according to Nielsen.
"He was a good kid. Good kid," Biggs Sr. said. "It's a shame I wasn't there to help him. It's a big loss to me. I wish I was there to help him -- since nobody else would."
Funeral arrangements had not been set as of Saturday.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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