Ohio teen convicted of killing mom over video game

[samanthajane13]

By M.R. KROPKO, Associated Press Writer M.r. Kropko, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 53 mins ago

ELYRIA, Ohio – Although a teenager's obsession with a violent video game may have warped his sense of reality, the boy is guilty of murdering his mother and wounding his father after they took "Halo 3" away from him, a judge ruled Monday. "I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents they would be dead forever," Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge said.

Nonetheless, Burge rejected the defense attorneys' argument that Petric, 17, was not guilty by reason of insanity.

The defense didn't contest that Petric shot his parents in October 2007 after they took the game away from him, but insisted that the teen's youth and addiction made him less responsible.

Petric may have been addicted, but the evidence also showed he planned the crime for weeks, said Burge, who found the teenager guilty of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and other charges.

Tried as an adult, Petric faces a maximum possible penalty of life in prison without parole. The judge didn't set a sentencing date.

The teen's mother, Susan Petric, 43, died of a gunshot wound to the head. Her husband, Mark Petric, a minister at New Life Assembly of God in Wellington, also was shot in the head but survived.

After the verdict was announced, Petric turned to look at his father seated behind him in the courtroom. Mark Petric, who previously said he has forgiven his son, gave an encouraging nod.

Mark Petric and other relatives left the court without comment.

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

On the night of the shooting, Petric used his father's key to open a lockbox and remove a 9 mm handgun and the game.

Mark Petric testified that his son came into the room and asked: "Would you guys close your eyes? I have a surprise for you." He testified that he expected a pleasant surprise. Then his head went numb from the gunshot.

Deputy prosecuting attorney Anthony Cillo argued during the trial that the teenager had planned to make it appear to be a murder-suicide by putting the gun in his father's hand.

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

A message seeking comment was left Monday with a Los Angeles public relations firm that represents the game maker, Bungie LLC.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090113/...r_s_wife_slain

[tonnie]

You know, when it comes to trying kids as adults I feel like it should be judged case by case depending on the individual's mental state and capacity to comprehend, at the time, right from wrong. When that's hard to determine, I usually think that only those with the rights of adults should be tried as adults.
But this case, this is different.
I'm the mother of four teenagers, and our home has seen it's share of video games. Perhaps because I'm all too aware of the dangers that lurk outside the homes (sometimes in the very backyards) of our children, I've always been quite indulgent regarding buying the latest in technological amusements, in a (perhaps misguided) attempt to keep the kids where I know they're safe, in the family room.
So I know that these games can be fairly addictive, and I know that some of them are more violent than others.
But I strongly disagree that this young man's "addiction" to Halo3 is responsible for his picking up a gun and doing the unthinkable to those who loved him most in all the world. I think that's just complete BS. I'm thinking that surely no jury is gonna buy such a ludicrous suggestion, and that he will wind up exactly where he belongs, in prison for the remainder of his days.
You know, I lost my brother to suicide, so I know firsthand the devastation that comes with the taking of one's life. There is the usual grief, the excruciating pain of the loss, like any other death. But there's also the terrible element of guilt, the "Why didn't I see this coming" thing, and that's indescribably painful. That pain is made worse when unthinking people feel it necessary to voice their religious opinions on the act of suicide, and many of those opinions are unthinkably cruel.
So I think it's particularly heinous when a person commits a murder and then tries to make it appear to've been a suicide (in this case, a murder/suicide.) I mean, if this young man would've had his way, the loved one's survivors would've had to live with the knowledge that his father was a murderer who also commited the "ultimate sin" (not my opinion, but that of many.) It wasn't enough for him to kill the very people who gave him life, he was going to tarnish the memory of his father, as well. The fact that he did this over a video game... just unfathomable.
I'm so tired of this "selected insanity" thing... he had the presence of mind to carefully plan and execute that plan (and his mother, for that matter.) To say he's the "victim" of some sort of addiction is pathetic. And it's a disgrace to the memory of his mother. I cannot believe he's even allowed to give such an excuse, ridiculous as it is.
Lastly, I find it especially sadistic that he told his parents to close their eyes for a "surprise." That anyone could do this is just... I hate to say it, but it's just evil, it truly is.
How ironic that the game in question was one which involved shooting "monsters that are taking over the earth." Hopefully, justice will be swift and there will, indeed, be one less monster roaming the earth.