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Upon hearing about the suicide of a 13-year-old neighbour, a Missouri woman ordered her business assistant and daughter to delete the Internet account they are accused of using to harass the girl, the assistant testified Thursday.

Ashley Grills, 20, told jurors it was her idea to set up a fake MySpace account using the name “Josh Evans” and that she sent the last message from “Josh” to Megan Meier in October 2006 saying that the world would be a better place without Megan.

Moments later Megan responded, “You are the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over,” Ms. Grills said. Megan, who was being treated for depression and attention deficit disorder, hanged herself that day.

Ms. Grills's testimony came at the trial of her former boss, Lori Drew, who has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorization. Each count carries a potential sentence of five years in prison.

Prosecutors say Ms. Drew, 49, her then-13-year-old daughter, Sarah, and Ms. Grills created the MySpace alias in September, 2006, to befriend Megan to find out if she was spreading rumours about Sarah.

The case is believed to be the nation's first cyberbullying trial. Its results could set a legal precedent for dealing with the issue of online harassment.

Defence attorney Dean Steward told jurors that Ms. Drew did not violate the Computer Use and Fraud Act – used in the past to address computer hacking – and reminded them that she was not facing charges dealing with the suicide. Mr. Steward has repeatedly asked U.S. District Judge George Wu to exclude testimony about Megan's suicide and twice sought a mistrial.

Ms. Grills, who was promised immunity from prosecution, testified that a short time after receiving Megan's message, ambulances raced down the street and stopped in front of the girl's house. She said Ms. Drew told her to go see what happened, and when she returned, she told Ms. Drew that Megan had hanged herself. Minutes later, Ms. Drew and her husband began yelling to shut down the MySpace account, Ms. Grills testified.

Grills told jurors she had no idea Megan was depressed until Ms. Drew told her soon afterward that, “‘We could have pushed her overboard because she was suicidal and depressed.' ”

On cross-examination, Ms. Grills said the intent of the nasty messages wasn't to humiliate or harass Megan as prosecutors allege.

Asked why Ms. Grills didn't tell Megan about the prank, she said if Megan had found out she would have made “Sarah's life a living hell” by spreading more rumours about her. Ms. Grills said she received a message from Megan in mid-2006 calling Ms. Drew's daughter a lesbian.

Ms. Grills, who helped Ms. Drew with her coupon magazine business, testified that she told Ms. Drew they might get in trouble for the scheme, but that Ms. Drew replied, “It was fine and people do it all the time.”

Ms. Grills said Ms. Drew thought the MySpace account was a funny idea and was present about half of the time when Ms. Grills and Sarah sent messages to Megan.

Ms. Grills said she remembered at least one time when Ms. Drew sat down and typed messages on the computer. She also testified that Ms. Drew wanted to print the conversations between “Josh” and Megan, lure the teen to a mall and reveal who the fake boy really was.

To finally end the hoax, Ms. Grills said she devised a scenario in which “Josh” would move away so Megan would lose interest in him. When Megan persisted, the tactics changed.

“We decided to be mean to her so she would leave him alone,” Ms. Grills said.

She testified that she sent the final message to Megan saying the world would be better off without her. Prosecutors did not ask if Ms. Drew was in the room when that message was sent, but Ms. Grills said she believed the message contributed to her death.

Earlier Thursday, Megan's mother testified that she was unaware that her daughter had posed as an 18-year-old while allegedly trying to chat online with boys.

Tina Meier has said she monitored 95 per cent of the online activity of her daughter.

Under questioning by Mr. Steward, Ms. Meier said she did not recall a report from a psychologist that her daughter was portraying herself with sexual innuendo during online activities.

She also said she had reprimanded her daughter after discovering in the summer of 2006 that Megan and Sarah had together created a false identity for a fictional girl named “Kelly” on MySpace. Ms. Meier said her daughter was “boy crazy.”

Also Thursday, hair stylist Christina Chu testified that she was upset when Ms. Drew told her she had helped set up a fake MySpace account to get back at an unnamed girl.

Ms. Chu said Ms. Drew showed no response when Ms. Chu told her that was wrong.

Ms. Drew returned to the hair salon on the day of Megan's wake, and was asked why she and her family had decided to attend. “‘It's not like I pulled the trigger,”' Ms. Chu quoted Ms. Drew as saying.

The case is being prosecuted in Los Angeles because MySpace's computer servers are based in the area.