Teenager gets 23 years for killing his mother over a video game

An Ohio teen, convicted in October 2007 over allegedly shooting at his parents and in the process killing his mother because they had taken away a video game from him, was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Daniel Petric, 17, from Elyria, Ohio shot his mother dead in October 2007 after his parents took away the “Halo 3” video game from him. His father, Mark Petric, a minister was wounded in the shooting. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison on Tuesday for crimes rooted in his obsession with video games with violent themes. The Ohio teen could have gotten a life sentence without parole but his father asked the judge to be lenient and said, “his son regrets killing his mother and reminds his father often that he is glad his father survived”, reports AP. “He's told me that many times. He still does not understand why he did something so terrible,” Mark Petric told the judge. He also said that Daniel says, “Dad, I miss mum … I miss mum.” When given the chance to speak by Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge, he shook his head slightly, sniffled and held back tears but sat down without saying a word. According to the judge, the obsession with the game may have led Daniel to believe that death wasn’t real like in his fictional game environment. The prosecution disputed the fact that his age and addiction to the game had made him less responsible.