Daniel Petric sentenced to 23 years in prison

by David Hinkle on Jun 16th 2009 10:40PM

Daniel Petric, the teenager who shot and killed his mother and injured his father after being cut off from his precious Halo 3 back in 2007, received his sentence today, MSNBC reports. Judge James Burge sentenced the boy to 23 years to cries of mercy from the boy's surviving father, who stated that Daniel "still does not understand why he did something so terrible."

Daniel's sentence is actually a lot lighter than it could have been, as the prosecution was pushing for the maximum sentence of life without parole. The defense's argument was that Daniel was so young and so addicted to the game that he could not be held accountable. Petric, only 17 years old, was even younger when he committed the crime, and the judge's lenience is likely tied to his belief that young Daniel was addicted to the point of delusion.

[Thanks, Aaron]

Source

Tags: bungie, daniel-petric, halo, halo-3, law, Microsoft, murder, trial, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (212)

so in 20 years, this guy will be roaming the streets once again, ready for vengance. Creepy stuff.

So... did he finish the fight?

I just spit milk all over my computer dickforce!

Good god.

That kid should get 23 years just for looking like such a witless lowlife shitbag, and life in prison for the actual murder...

Someone won't be playing Halo 4!

its stuff like this that really hurts the movement for videogames to be accepted in the public eye.

People like Jack Thompson will shout that no game is worth the life of a person, regardless of how remote the posibillity of a violent occurence happening.

It's a shame to see people commit these crimes but gamers as a whole are painted with the same brush.
I hate the idea that someone will now say that "all gamers are possible homicidal maniacs, LETS CENSOR EVERYTHING!"

He shot his dad and killed his mother over a video game. Either the parents were in some way abusive and didn't raise him very well at all, or he has some sort of defect in his brain. A jail sentence will not fix the issue if it is either of these cases.

You aren't in control of your actions and you don't have free will. Everyone is a slave to the neurons in their brains.

Why are you replying to me?

I'm hereby nominating Ryoga Vee for Most Awesome Tasteless Comment of the Month.

So he will be out just in time for Duke Nukem Forever.

@ KID:

Way to shirk accountability and responsibility all in one post. -1

He looks like a zombie (O_O)

haha, on a post like this you'd better damn well remember to unclick "E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment". Dude deserves to get his inbox flooded for actually caring about being first

sucker....

KID, lets see if you believe that crap once I finish building my Katamari! Watch out world, I'm rolling for ya!!!

Somehow I am not surprised the video game in question is Halo and the system an Xbox.

I'm tellin ya, the majority of the demographic for that console is around this kid's age group (mentally and literally) and, to a MUCH lesser degree than this individual, carry these types of tendencies (i.e. violence, vulgarity, outright rudeness, rebellion, "elitist" status amongst peers).

Down vote me all you want, just shows I'm right.

@ Cody

Then I must be playing the wrong console...

what? Being downvote doesnt prove you're right, you couldnt be more wrong. Everyone knows, or should know, that for years the average age of gamers is 35, that's for all consoles, PC, handhelds whatever, Xbox is no different.

23 years is not long enough. They should put him in jail for 117 years.

"Daniel 'still does not understand why he did something so terrible.'"

And that's probably why he should be in jail.

Exactly, someone like that shouldn't be let back into society, cause they might do it again.

@ bigfat

firefox has spell checker built in. try it.

wow. down voted for an honest attempt to try and help someone out, and called a jackass. it was not meant to be smart towards you at all.

@FNG

People here are extremely defensive...that is why I choose to be careful when commenting.

I learned the hard way myself.

Peanut butter jelly time

@Donald:

DAMN STRAIGHT! Look at that picture. That smug little punk thinks he's hardcore. He needs to spend a romantic night with Jungle Jim in the Iron Bar Hotel then see how smug he is when his farts make now sound.

Video games had nothing todo with this. I wouldn't care to be he's been a little bitch all his life and finally got enough "courage" to hit his mom. Sometimes, I think she should just start hanging them again. >:(

@FNG

You got voted down because your post sounds so condescending.

Like this:
Your post is condescending, don't you know that? Try reading the words you write before adding your comment.

See?

Yeah, I really don't understand why this is supposed to be a defense of his actions. If he doesn't know any better after committing such a violent act, then he's clearly a threat to himself and others.

I have my opinions about the prison system, and I don't agree that in every case a person should spend the rest of their days in jail for taking a life -- this is what the courts are for, obviously, reviewing crimes and determining appropriate sentences. Was it an accident, was it a reaction to a threat, what were the circumstances, et cetera.

But this, I just don't understand how something so monsterous and unprovoked cannot be met with a lifetime sentence. Shooting your mom in the head over the vidya should be a permanent oneway ticket out of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Same goes for raping children, but that guy got only a year behind bars just recently. The judiciall system only works so often. =P

"Get ready to drop" (the soap), this fall

Looks like he's been getting his ass kicked daily in [wherever they've been holding him]. May not be smart enough to understand what he did, but I bet by now he's realized that there's no CoD where he's going.

Yeah... "kicked"...

People dont kill over COD, COD sucks, I would murder for Halo.

there may not be CoD where he's going, but i guarantee there's a wii

There is CoD in prison...
Cock on Dick...
He'll be getting alot of it.

Wii implies small; unless nintendo makes big meaty prizon cawks, he won't be playing any easy games :p.

Nite Nite, Keep Your Bunghole Tight

too late. lol

And that's the way it has to be,
They locked him up and took away the key,
But I can't take pity of men of his kind,
Even though he now takes it in the behind

I think being in jail until you're 40 is excessive. The other guy wanted life. I think people can learn and change. Maybe it's just me

He is obviously suffering from mental problems. He needs treatment. A good mental tea bag and anti psychotics for this fucker.

To me, anything over 5 years sounds like an extremely long time since its day in day out.

I'm not trying to question the decision, I'm just saying that I'd probably be insane by that time.

I think life is more fitting. He took his own mother's life & attempted to kill his father. He definitely deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison. He's lucky the US doesn't have an "eye for an eye" justice system like some other countries ...

People don't change.

Yeah, it's just you.

I'm not in favor of the death penalty but I believe that if you take a life you should spend the rest of your life in prison. Period. Maybe people can change - that doesn't bring back the person he or she murdered and doesn't mean they deserve a second chance to be a part of society.

The murder and attempted murder this piece of scum committed was premeditated. He told his parents to close their eyes because he had a 'suprise' for them. Then shot them both in the head. You want this person back in society?

I'm more into perpetual torture to Pedos, rapists, and murders like this guy. Let them live in a living hell for the rest of their lives.

Just arbitrarily giving a random number of years is not beneficial to sentencing the convicted. You guys all need to remember that the point of jail is for REHABILITATION, it is rehabilitate them so that they can become productive members of society eventually. However, the problem with the prison system is that there is very little rehabilitation going on. This guy obviously is mentally ill and needs mental treatment. 5, 10, 25, 50 years of prison won't give this guy the help he needs.

Gotta vote you down, Glory. I sure as hell have no interest in paying for the food and guards for this little bastard. I would pay for a bullet. His family already has the gun.

@bigD:

Actually, life in prison is a lot less expensive than the death penalty. The thing is, a defendant will never accept the death penalty, so there will be multiple appeals, etc. Here's a link that explains it in more depth:

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty

More ammunition for those that say videogames cause people to be violent. Obviously, being addicted to games and having them taken away from you will not cause the results of this situation. The kid was messed up in the head and a psychological event trigged his actions - not Master Chief.

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Daniel Petric sentenced to 23 years in prison

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