Boy Killed Mother and Shot His Father After They Took Halo 3 Video Game

Boy decided to kill his parents who, at first, did not give him money to buy the violent video game Halo 3, and then, after he sneaked out of the house and purchased the game by himself, they did not allow him to play it.

Daniel Petric killed his mother. He wanted everything to look like a murder-suicide, prosecutors told a Lorain County judge. The boy is now 17. When he bought the game, his parents noticed and took it. Then they locked the game in a lockbox, where Mark Petric, Daniel's dad, also kept a 9mm handgun. Daniel opened the box and took both the game and the handgun.

The boy's father is a minister at New Life Assembly of God in Wellington. Mark Petric testified that on October 20, 2007, Daniel, who was then 16, entered the room, saying: "Would you guys close your eyes. I have a surprise for you."

When Daniel's parents closed their eyes, the boy shot from the handgun killing his 43-year-old mother Susan Petric. She died after being shot in the head. Mark Petric said that after the shot Daniel threw the gun in his hands saying: "Hey Dad, here's your gun. Take it."

In the trial Mark Petric explained how he managed to survive. It was his daughter and her husband who help him. The two arrived to the house to watch an Indians game. When they approached the door, Daniel told them that they could not come in. "You guys shouldn't come in. Mom and Dad had a big argument," Mark Petric quoted his son as saying. The only thing he could do is to scream for help, reports Cleveland.com.

He paid several visits to his son, who is now in jail and said that Daniel apologized for what he did. "Dad, I'm so sorry for what I did to Mom, to you and to the family. I'm so glad you are alive," he said, according Mark Petric, who answered: "You're my son. You're my boy."

According to Mark Petric, Daniel felt so guilty over what he had done, that he could hardly live with it. He said that his wife and Daniel were very close. "He was always her little boy," Mark Petric told the judge.

The youngster's lawyers said that their client had been under severe stress after Daniel had a snowboarding accident, which led to a dangerous staph infection that may cause a lot of serious diseases. Daniel was homebound for one year, having nothing to do but watch TV and play his favorite video games.