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A US woman accused of encouraging her boyfriend to kill himself texted a friend to say "it's my fault" following his death, a court has heard.

Michelle Carter was 17 when her boyfriend Conrad Roy III, 18, was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in a truck in July 2014.

She is charged with involuntary manslaughter, accused of sending text messages and making phone calls that encouraged him to kill himself.

On Wednesday, her friend Samantha Boardman told Taunton juvenile court, Massachusetts, that Carter sent a text message following his death, saying: "It's my fault... I could have stopped him but I told him to go back into the car."

Ms Boardman is one of several witnesses to give evidence in Carter's trial.

Carter, now 20, allegedly encouraged Mr Roy to kill himself in the run-up to his death, telling him "the time is right and you're ready". Transcripts of the text message exchanges between the pair have been been shown in court.

A text displayed in the courtroom allegedly showed Carter admitting that she feared consequences after police found Mr Roy's phone, saying "his family will hate me and I can go to jail".

Another friend, Olivia Mosologo, said Carter texted that she "heard [Mr Roy] die" and was "talking on the phone with him when he killed himself".

Separate texts said she was "the only one he told things to" and that she "should've gotten more help", the court heard.

Prosecutor Maryclare Flynn alleges Carter encouraged Mr Roy to kill himself to gain attention and sympathy for herself, and described her actions as a "sick game".

Defence lawyer Joseph Cataldo said Carter's text messages were protected as free speech. He argues that Mr Roy was responsible for his own death and had researched methods of suicide before.

The police officer who discovered Mr Roy's phone also gave evidence at the trial, which is being heard without a jury.

Fairhaven detective Scott Gordon said he discovered the text conversation between the couple.