Video Game Addict Son Shoots Parents

Seventeen-year-old Daniel Petric was convicted of shooting his parents in the head after they took away his Xbox and Halo 3 video game.[1] Daniel killed his mother and wounded his father when they banned him from playing the video game.

Judge James Burge convicted him of aggravated murder for the death of his mother and attempted aggravated murder for the attack on his father. On the night of the crime, Daniel took back the video game and used his father's 9 mm handgun to commit the murder. His father 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. The teenager then put the gun in his father's hand in an attempt to make the shootings look like a murder-suicide. When he fled the scene, he only took one item with him: the Halo 3 video game. Can the obsession to a video game be so great that it drives a kid to murder his parents in order to continue playing?