Los Angeles, CA

It would be really hard to have not heard about Megan Meier and the MySpace debacle by now. If you somehow haven’t heard, though, or need a reminder, she was the teenager who was pranked by her best friend’s mom on the social site and ended up committing suicide over it all. The mother pretended to be a cute boy who was interested in Megan, and went through an elaborate ruse of flirting with the girl and setting her up to think that the non-existent boy loved her, then suddenly turning the tables and getting Megan’s other MySpace friends to gang up on her and call her an awful person and other nasty names. One person even said “The world would be a better place without you.” Being a girl with low self-esteem who had battled with depression for most of her life — a fact her friend’s mother knew — Megan was so crushed by this mass attack from her friends that she hung herself in her closet while her family was downstairs making dinner.

Due to a legal loophole, the friend’s mother and the friend herself, who was also in on the ruse, are not being charged with any sort of crime. At least in their home state of Missouri. The anger towards this family reaches nationwide and the mother now publicly complains that their lives are ruined because the Meiers won’t let this go. Well, at least your daughter is still alive, and wasn’t driven to even consider killing herself over a grown woman who should have known better — and had better things to do — than to harass a 14 year old and stalk her.

What does this have to do with LA, you ask? As of today, plenty. A federal grand jury here in LA has started issuing subpoenas regarding the case, and want to charge Lori Drew, the mother and ringleader behind the attacks on Megan, on federal counts of wire fraud and cyber fraud. So far, employees of MySpace and some unnamed witnesses have been subpoenaed, but both Megan’s family and the Drews were taken off guard by this development in the case. While the Drews’ lawyer refused to comment, Megan’s mother was glad to have anyone take up the case and make both MySpace and the Drew family take responsibility for what they’ve done. Lori Drew had previously commented publicly that she felt no remorse or regret over what she had done, even though it directly led to Megan’s death. Maybe looking at some time behind bars for her thoughtless prank and heartless reaction will change her mind, though.

To read more about LA’s involvement in the Megan Meier case, go here.