Thursday, January 15, 2009

Teen killed mother over Halo game found guilty

An Ohio teen Daniel Petric who is now 17 kill’s mom and shot father after taking away his Halo 3 game that he snuck out and bought on his own was tried as an adult and found guilty. The judge dismissed the plea of insanity that the teen was addicted to the video game and didn’t think death was real or thought his parents wouldn‘t be dead forever, what? How old was he? He could be facing life in prison without the possibility of parole for this of which happened back in Oct of 2007.



The boy had also been homebound for a year after a snowboarding injury that resulted in a severe staph infection leaving him with nothing to do but play video games and watch TV. Apparently he played the video game for hours at a friend’s house but his father refused to let him play it due to the violence of the game and confiscated it from his son.

The father took the game away and stored it in a lockbox in his closet next to his 9mm handgun in which the teen later got the key and removed both, then shooting both parents in the head of which only the father a minister survived and he believed he survived only because the older sister and her husband arrived at the home shortly after the incident. The teen told his sister she couldn’t come in because mom and dad had a big argument. After hearing the moaning from inside they pushed their way inside the home and made the call to 9-1-1. Get this though he actually tried placing the gun in his dad’s hand after all was done alleged to make this case appear as a murder - suicide, prosecutor’s mentioned. Doesn’t sound like much insanity there to me or does it? He asked his parents to close their eyes because he had a surprise for them and then fired. When he fled the scene he left only with one item and yes it was that Halo 3 game.

How awfully sad is this and I wonder what on earth was going on in the head of this teen while he just opened fire on his parents because a video game was taken away from him, that’s deep and disturbing.

14 comments:

Michelle said...

Wow, this is terrible. What was that kid thinking. Makes you wonder about video games. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Oh my god! This is seriously sick..
How could he? Obviously he's sane cos he placed the gun at his dad's hands to try to escape being charged & to make people think that his dad's the killer.. How cruel! Luckily his dad survived and the truth was told..

Anonymous said...

that's scary!!!

Anonymous said...

I never tought about killing people when playing this game. Sad story my friend.

Naye said...

Michelle, it is very terrible and just the thought of it being in regards to video game is awful, maybe there's more to the story as well but who knows what all lead up to this.

Cashmere, very sick it is. That shocked me as well when hearing about the whole placing the gun in dads hand thing, just creepy all the way around.

maggie, isn't it scary? That's the same thing I said when I first heard of this.

lunaticg, it is a sad story. I guess video games affect everyone in different ways and that game must have really been addicting for him to make sure not to leave it behind even after shooting his parents. I have never personally seen the game I just have heard lot's about it and again who knows what else could have possibly been going through this teens mind.

Anonymous said...

Yes, downright disgusting and a good thing he's been found guilty. If he was old enough to decide to do something like that he's old enough to pay the price. I hope his mother and father are in peace.

Petula said...

That's crazy and sad, but unfortunately I am not surprised. There has to be more serious research done on the affect of this type of stuff on the developing brain. Even if someone knows right from wrong it's possible that that type of stuff changes or manipulates the mind. The brain isn't fully developed until we're about 21 or so therefore if it's continually growing and developing then whatever it absorbs is going to make a difference.

But, all that said, it's still freaking crazy!

Marites said...

That is sickeningly sad story. Video games especially the violent ones should be regulated and government should really be more stingent in their rules about those as manufacturers do not care about the effects as long as they earn big money from those products.

Naye said...

MoneyEnergy, I too do hope his mother and father both are in peace. I know I did read further into this that his father has forgiven him and been to visit his son, but a crime is a crime and guilty he is so he does have the price to pay for this crime he committed.

Petula, crazy, sad and unsurprisingly it truly and sadly is. Not enough research is true too because this case clearly illustrates to us that even a teen can become an irrational thinker while playing video games.

I know it's up to us as parents to monitor our kids and which games we choose to let them play, but in this case it is freakin crazy, because you just never know, and his parent's tried to take away the game so it's all messed up, damn these games nowadays!

Veronica Lee said...

Hi Naye. Welcome to MBC!

Naye said...

Veronica Lee, thanks for stopping by and welcoming me :)

Anonymous said...

Thats really disturbing indeed.........children killing other students/parents/teachers are in an alarming rise...The parents-son relationship is falling apart.....

Anonymous said...

Kids get so deep into these games. I use the removal of games as my main punishment mechanism. The removal of the game console makes my daughters mad enough that I can actually imagine something like this happening.

For all of the good things technology brings to us, there is also most certainly a dark side.

Naye said...

Your PC info, crimes committed by children is really on an alarming rise and it so sad.

JollyRoger, true point that you mentioned with technology it does have it's pro's and con's. I'm so sorry to read that you think your daughter would get mad enough to that point of thinking. That's a scary reality though I must say.