Daniel Petric, 17, of Brighton Township shot his parents — killing his mother — because they wouldn’t let him play violent video games and took away his copy of, Halo 3.
The story goes that, on September 2007, Daniel, then 16, had purchased the video game against his father’s orders. Caught by his parents, the game was taken away from him and placed in a lockbox in a closet where a 9mm handgun was also stored.
Roughly a month later, Daniel used his father’s key to open the lockbox, taking both the gun and the game. According to Mark Petric, Daniel’s father who testified on Monday, Daniel had said to him and his wife, “Would you guys close your eyes? I have a surprise for you.” Petric, 45, said he “expected a pleasant surprise” and closed his eyes.
It was then that Daniel shot both him parents, killing his mother and severely wounding his father.
Afterwards when his sister and her husband arrived at the house, Daniel fled in the family van, taking the Halo 3 game with him.
At the trial, Daniel showed little emotion “throughout the trial except when his mother’s autopsy photos were flashed on a large screen. He bowed his head and stared at his hands for about 20 minutes while the photos were discussed.”
While visiting Daniel in jail, Petric said that his son had apologized to him. “Dad, I’m so sorry for what I did to Mom, to you and to the family,” Daniel said, according to his father. “I’m so glad you are alive.”
In which Petric responded, “You’re my son.” “You’re my boy.”
According to Petric, his wife and Daniel had a very close relationship and that “the family has forgiven him and want him to come home because the family cannot heal until they are all together.”
Daniel’s lawyer, James Kersey, gave a short statement saying that his client had been under a great amount of stress as a result of a snowboarding accident that resulted in a severe staph infection. “It left Daniel with such severe spinal damage that the slightest injury could leave him paralyzed.”
Daniel became homebound for a year with nothing to do but watch television and play video games. “It was during that time that he became fascinated with the Halo series and would play them for hours at friends’ houses. His father forbade the games, saying that were too violent and sexually explicit.”