Video game crime

related
Abbey Fletcher

Boy, 8, played violent video game, killed 90-year-old woman but will NOT be charged: cops
The child had just finished playing "Grand Theft Auto IV" before he fatally shot Marie Smothers, 90, inside a
Louisiana mobile home, police said. But state law prevents children under 10 from being charged with a crime.

ELYRIA, Ohio A judge Monday rejected the defense that a teenage boy opened fire on his family because he was addicted
to video games, convicting him of wounding his clergyman father and killing his mother after they fought over a game.

Lawyers for Daniel Petric, 17, didn't contest that the boy shot his parents in October 2007, but insisted his youth and video
game addiction made him less responsible.

Common Pleas Judge James Burge disagreed and pointed to evidence the boy plotted the crime for weeks.

Petric was convicted of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and other charges. He faces a maximum possible
penalty of life in prison without parole. The judge didn't set a sentencing date.

Angry about video game

Prosecutors said Petric planned to kill his parents because he was angry that his father would not allow him to play the
video game "Halo 3," in which players shoot alien monsters that have taken over the Earth.

During the trial, deputy prosecuting attorney Anthony Cillo described Petric as a cold, calculating killer who plotted to
murder his parents, Mark and Susan Petric, and make it appear to be a murder-suicide by putting the gun in his father's
hand.

Defense Attorney James Kersey has said that Petric was obsessed with the "Halo" series of video games, which he played 18
hours a day when he had the chance. Petric used his father's key to open a lockbox and remove a 9 mm handgun and the
game.

Mark Petric, who is a minister at New Life Assembly of God in Wellington, testified that his son came into the room and
asked: "Would you guys close your eyes? I have a surprise for you."

The father testified that he expected a pleasant surprise. Then his head went numb from a gunshot and he survived. His
wife, Susan, 43, died of gunshot wound to the head.

Kersey said during the trial that when the teenager fled the grisly scene, he only took one item with him: the "Halo 3" game.

Questions

Do you agree with the parents that they should blame the video game for
their child's death?

Is it the boys fault if he's only 8yrs old?

Is it okay that he had possession of a 18+ video game and a loaded gun?

is the copycat theory influenced by these crimes?

Do you feel that the desensitisation theory is encouraged towards yourselves

with these crimes linked with video games?

Do you agree that the 8yr old criminal really targeted the 90yr old women and
knew from the beginning he was going to shoot her?