Mortal Kombat blamed in death of 7-year old
by Ross Miller 
{ Dec 20th 2007 at 10:55AM }
Two teens, 17-year Leonard Roberts and 16-year old Maria Trujillo, have been charged in the death of the girl's 7-year old sister. According to various sources, they were either playing Mortal Kombat at the time or simply re-enacting moves from the game. If it's the latter, the identity of whoever linked Mortal Kombat to the death -- either the accused themselves or some outside observer -- is never made clear. An actual link to the game is even more ambiguous. According to NEWS.com.au, Trujillo alleged she was "playing 'Mortal Combat'" with her sister, and it's unclear if that's a misspelling or the sisters' name for their general roughhousing. The same report also mentioned that Roberts was downstairs playing video games while the incident occurred upstairs, according to an affidavit.
Another article by the Denver Channel said they "were wrestling as they always do, karate kicking, punching and kicking," implying that the behavior is perpetual and perhaps not related to the game. Of course, labeling it the "Mortal Kombat" death makes for an admittedly catchy headline. (An article from the Rocky Mountain News abstained from mentioning the game in its headline, although a broken link on their Most Viewed sidebar indicates they may have once named it "'Mortal Kombat' tragedy.")
What's disturbing for us is that, while an unverified link to video games makes it into the headline, noting that Roberts was drunk at the time gets lost in either the middle or very end of the articles we read. Shouldn't we be worried about an intoxicated 17-year old just as much as we are his gaming habits? (For international readers, the legal drinking age in the US is 21.) Sure, underage drinking and stupidity is not as new of a hot-button issue as video games, but shouldn't we try to present all the pertinent facts with appropriate prominence?
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]
Read - Teen accused in child's 'Mortal Kombat' death (Denver Channel)
Read - Teens charged in 'Mortal Kombat' death (AP via Yahoo! News)
Read - Teens charged in death of girl, 7 (Rocky Mountain News)
Read - Game blamed for death (NEWS.com.au)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
TheWarden @ Dec 20th 2007 11:01AM
Yet another in a long line of media outlets blaming violence on video games.... when it should be blaming stupidity.
But the real question: Was that a babality or fatality?
The1 @ Dec 20th 2007 11:21AM
STUPIDITY and the PARENTS for raising morons......
Idiot Face @ Dec 20th 2007 1:07PM
This only makes sense if it happened in the 90's, but then again my name is Idiot Face *sadface.jpg*
Shockgamer @ Dec 20th 2007 11:02AM
Not more than five minutes ago, I was watching MSNBC show Shang Tsung snapping Liu Kang's neck ad nauseum, along with other Mortal Kombat clips.
I've gotta say, it improved the network ten fold!
Shockgamer @ Dec 20th 2007 12:07PM
Also:
I wonder if they'll be lenient, being that the suspects are underag-
*Looks at Roberts' picture*
Nope. Adult trial and book thrown confirmed.
Roto13 @ Dec 20th 2007 11:02AM
FATALITY!
So did they, like, rip out her spine or something? Cause if not, they weren't playing Mortal Kombat.
Matt B @ Dec 20th 2007 11:06AM
A little kid died and you try a joke? WTF is wrong with you?
Rob Accomando @ Dec 20th 2007 11:07AM
What's funny is where the blame is being put.
heavenlysword @ Dec 20th 2007 11:44AM
dood.. you're not funny.. and please refrain yourself from making jokes in the future.
Roto13 @ Dec 20th 2007 11:48AM
I stand by my comment. Mortal Kombat had nothing to do with this. It's just more blame shifting.
johnny g @ Dec 20th 2007 1:27PM
if it makes you feel any better i found it funny.
randal @ Dec 20th 2007 6:32PM
Will anyone ever realize these stupid kids are using this an an excuse to switch the focus of the blame?! I can't tell you how many people I've taken out in GoldenEye or even with the cerebral gun in Turok! Or the many finishers and hearts ripped out in MK2! Yet still I haven't killed anyone, or beat up little kids and cops! Are people really this gullable and retarted! WAIT Maggie shot Mr. Burns this changes everything I'm off on a killing rampage now cause Maggie Simpson can, well so can I!
Jerk Face @ Dec 20th 2007 11:26AM
I just like how all your video game murder references are from no later than 1999. : )
What good days of gaming those were!
Turok 2 Multiplayer FTW?
jovin6 @ Dec 20th 2007 4:20PM
Hahaha. And his Simpsons reference is that old too. Man that show used to be good, back in the day.
Matt B @ Dec 20th 2007 11:04AM
"Mortal Kombat to blame..."
Eh... what about the alcohol?
Jhongerkong @ Dec 20th 2007 11:40AM
Alcohol doesnt kill people, games kill people.
At least, thats what the media wants you to think.
Savok @ Dec 20th 2007 11:58AM
Rare you'll see the media blaming alcohol if there's another scapegoat. Never get between a journalist and a drink.
FOXHOUND @ Dec 20th 2007 12:14PM
LoL Reminds me of Paul Giamatti's line in SHOOT'EM UP...
"Guns don't kill people... but they sure help!"
Victor @ Dec 20th 2007 2:04PM
@Jhongerkong
People kills people.
Alcohol kills sadness and brain cells :D
FOXHOUND @ Dec 20th 2007 3:28PM
@ Victor
Booze also makes the world much more 'purdy'. :D
...until the next morning. :(
Rob Accomando @ Dec 20th 2007 11:06AM
Reminds me of the time I killed my buddy after doing a Shoryuken on him. Boy, that Street Fighter 2 was addicting.
Jhongerkong @ Dec 20th 2007 11:43AM
I remember when I was addicted to Super Mario Bros.
I just kept stomping on by buddys head while he was asleep, hoping that money would come out.
Greyseal @ Dec 20th 2007 11:06AM
Next time there's a school shooting, can we sue the US Government for teaching our children that shooting other people with questionable justification is ok?
We've got our soldiers killing and getting killed for no good reason... but it's the cartoon violence of Mortal Kombat poisoning our kids.
Christopher @ Dec 20th 2007 11:20AM
I have posted this on every other site regarding this...
Why was a 7 yearold GIRL allowed home alone with a 17 yearold BOY? And on top of that... Why was he drinking and drunk around a 7 yearold? That just there is against the law.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 20th 2007 11:22AM
Uh yeah, it was allowed to happen because 16 year old older sister has a 17 year old delinquent boyfriend who she had over while babysitting for fun times of drinking, screwing, and beating the shit out of a defenseless 7 year old.
Danny @ Dec 20th 2007 12:26PM
"fun times of drinking, screwing, and beating the shit out of a defenseless 7 year old."
And Mortal Kombat.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 20th 2007 11:16AM
read this article on kotaku, its much more heartbreaking.
The little girl told the teenage boy to stop, but he didn't "because I[he] was drunk".
Literally beaten to death. Then when she stopped moving and breathing, they cracked an egg in her mouth to "see if she was just messing with them." Then they put her in a warm bath, which revived her momentarily, before electing to call paramedics 15 minutes later.
I'm not normally for the death penalty with people this young, but I wanted to make these 2 assholes dead. There is something very seriously wrong with you as a human being if your idea of fun is brutally beat to death your 7 year old sister.
Death, or life without the possibility of parole, is the only way justice could hope to be served here.
Jerk Face @ Dec 20th 2007 11:27AM
Oh my God...
: (
Eddie @ Dec 20th 2007 11:42AM
I don't care if this kid was sat in front of the most violent video games with his eyelids stapled open 24 hours a day, there is something seriously screwed up when you can't stop beating a defenseless 7 year old girl. He should be beaten to within an inch of his life, and then drowned. In acid.
A girlfriend I had once (when I was 17) had a little sister I would play with "similarly" (that is to say, pushing and 'fighting' in fun), but I never did anything physically with enough force to even hurt. I knew better, even then, that guys don't hit girls and that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I ever really did hurt her, even accidentally. Drunk or not, this guy obviously has no control and deserves to have his life made a living hell (until they send his soul to the real one).
Neon Jebus @ Dec 20th 2007 11:18AM
I hope Bubba rips the guy a new one in prison. They should both be put to death as soon as possible. And none of this being on death row for years on end.
They did it, they said they did it. Let's get them on their way to visit the creator before the New Year.
wickedpheonix @ Dec 20th 2007 11:21AM
So... if I watch Star Wars, then buy a toy lightsaber, whoosh it around like in the movies and hit someone a *little* too hard, all of a sudden people are gonna start hating Star Wars? WTF?
Only when its video games do video games get mentioned... never with movies or anything else... sigh...
Neon Jebus @ Dec 20th 2007 11:27AM
When I hear people blame games I often tell those very people I refuse to read the Bible. The Old Testament is just too violent. Man, OT God would just kill you for looking at him the wrong way.
Don't even get my started on the Book of Revelations.
J-Guy @ Dec 20th 2007 3:57PM
Sadly, tis true. New Testament God has lost the crazy killing edge he had in the OT. Good times.
Neon Jebus @ Dec 20th 2007 11:22AM
Life without parole only if they work enough to offset the cost to house them in the prisons. I'm tired of my tax money being used to support these ass clowns.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 20th 2007 11:35AM
Invariably, some asshats going to come along and say "Well, it costs the state more money to enact the death penalty than it does life without parole".
To which I say "I'd much rather my tax money go to snuffing out these peoples existence than to sustain them in prison for life, even if it costs 10x as much".
Neon Jebus @ Dec 20th 2007 11:47AM
It's the appeals process that eats up money.
Everyone gets their trial, so the cost factor is the same. In cases like this, where they did and there is no doubt of guilt, why don't we just skip the foreplay and get on to the execution.
Fanboy @ Dec 20th 2007 11:28AM
Too bad they did show a "Friendship" or a "Mercy"
Fanboy @ Dec 20th 2007 11:28AM
edit: didn't
FidliousWong @ Dec 20th 2007 11:47AM
Thought I should post this here. GP post rip.
"“According to the arrest affidavits, Trujillo told investigators she and Roberts were babysitting Zoe (Garcia) and her twin, 3-year-old sisters, while their mother worked at the Corral Bar about five blocks away.
Trujillo said they were acting out the video game “Mortal Combat” by savagely hitting and kicking Zoe, even dropping her on her side, which broke her wrist. Roberts, who claimed to be a martial-arts expert with his hands registered as “lethal weapons, said Zoe had asked him to stop hitting her but that he didn’t because “…I was drunk.”
Roberts said he had performed a back kick on her, then kicked her again as she ran toward him. She fell back and didn’t get up. She had stopped breathing, and Trujillo and Roberts waited 15 minutes before calling for help.
They said they put her in a bath, which temporarily revived her, but that she stopped breathing again. Roberts said he cracked an egg in her mouth “to see if she was messing around with them.”
The egg went down her throat, the affidavit stated.
Finally, the mother and paramedics were called. Zoe was taken to the Northern Colorado Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. ”"
Yeah, obviously MK was the problem here.
brian @ Dec 20th 2007 11:51AM
The Denver article didn't actually say anything about a "video game" and it said "Trujillo and Garcia were wrestling as they always do, karate kicking, punching and kicking.
However, court records said a witness saw Roberts kicking and body slamming her." and that the kid was drunk.
borland502 (SDF - Macross Ring) @ Dec 20th 2007 11:52AM
I don't like Manhunt 2; I don't like GTA. But by the gaming Gods, these games are a symptom and not the cause! Blaming games for rising violence is like giving a cancer patient cough syrup for persistent hacking.
Besides, humanity has always loved to see violence and death. The only difference now is that we satisfy our love through fiction and we're getting good enough to reproduce it more accurately.
Besides, if you're going to bring down the police state then do it right. Create Manhunt 3, and make it a sandbox world where you can kill anyone. Jail people that kill indiscriminately and hire anyone that sticks to undesirables and enemies of the state. Or make Hot Coffee mods more realistic. You have your fun and then 9 months later a recurring bill begins for child support. Sorry buddy, but the servers say it was your child.
coolforever4537 @ Dec 20th 2007 11:55AM
COUNTDOWN TO JACK THOMPSON....5...4...3...2..1..
zero2dash @ Dec 20th 2007 12:04PM
Funny how there's no mention, anywhere, of where the parents where during the whole ordeal.
I guess that's because they were out in the garage filming their gang bang and not paying attention, as usual.
B-B-But it's all Mortal Kombat's fault.
/sarcasm
As a parent, stupid moron bullsh!t like this just pisses me off. If you can't bother to take care of your kids, THEN DON'T F'NG HAVE ANY.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 20th 2007 12:07PM
Mom was at work down the street at a bar. Dad probably MIA.
Trash breeds more trash.
zero2dash @ Dec 20th 2007 12:12PM
Yeah, I just noticed the linked articles said the mom was at work (probably at a topless bar that accepts pennies)...no mention of the father. So HE was filming the gang bang by himself in the garage I suppose.
Again - good 'ol bad parenting in action here ladies and gentlemen. How exactly do two teens get left alone at home with readily available alcohol? You know, with the idiocy in this event, I'm surprised police didn't arrive on the scene and find a freshly-used bong and a loaded shotgun on the couch.
FidliousWong @ Dec 20th 2007 12:21PM
Way to assume it was bad parenting. Nice to just shift the blame for this as easily as those you hate it being shifted to games. Seriously, you're a moron.
You ASSUME the mother wasn't a responsible parent because she held a bar job. When I was a kid, my mother was holding down three jobs and we had a babysitter until my sister was old enough to watch me. This 16 year old SHOULD have been responsible enough to watch her sister. But there was alcohol involved and a savage retard taking martial arts lessons.
Those two are to blame, not the fucking video games, not the fucking parents. Maybe we should, I don't know... start holding the criminals responsible for their actions? Just a thought...
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 20th 2007 1:08PM
Actually, my trash comment was directed at the MIA father. And nobody's blaming the parents (except for teaching their 16 year old how to find a decent man, something the mother clearly excelled at; or for teaching her the weight of her responsibility as a babysitter).
Nobody's saying put the mom on trial, or put her in jail, or even that she was responsible at all, other than the shitty parenting that didn't teach the 16 year old right from wrong.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 20th 2007 1:15PM
Additionally, when you talking about minors, you can't ignore the parental involvement (or lack thereof). Nobody's trying to equate that Mom killed the little girl. But it was shitty parenting that lead to this situation: either in deciding your 16 year old was old and mature enough to watch 3 younger siblings, or in her failure to know her 16 year old had a delinquent boyfriend, or in her failure to properly teach her 16 year old right from wrong.
zero2dash @ Dec 20th 2007 7:33PM
"You ASSUME the mother wasn't a responsible parent because she held a bar job."
No I assume she's a bad parent because a) liquor was obviously accessible to underage children and b) she let her kids 'act out' Mortal Kombat without disciplining them which is apparently the case if they "were wrestling as they always do, karate kicking, punching and kicking,". key words being AS THEY ALWAYS DO, meaning this isn't the first time her kids beat the crap out of each other 'because Johnny Cage and Scorpion do it so it must be ok!'.
Blu-Sam @ Dec 20th 2007 12:14PM
I don't know and don't think "Mortal Kombat" should be place in first place without proof.