Man Kills His Daughter, Blames Video Game Obsession. - UPDATED
I'm sick of people using "video game addiction" as a defense against violent acts. No rational, self-respecting person can honestly think that video games will put them in a blind rage and force them to harm another person and I find it incredulous to think otherwise. That being said, someone is trying to do this once again.
You may have heard last year about Tyrone Spellman of Philadelphia who was charged with the murder of his 17-month old daughter. After the little girl reportedly toppled and damaged his Xbox 360, Tyrone reportedly struck the child twice in the face, and threw her against a chair. Her skull was fractured in 5 places, killing the child.
Tyrone's case has now officially gone to trial. The defense is taking a position that Tyrone was obsessed with video games and that he never had any intention of killing her. The word "acquittal" was mentioned in the article.
The intention behind the killing is completely inconsequential. This is a matter of a man losing his temper and killing a child who is incapable of understanding the complexities of society. I don't care what your reasoning is, but under no circumstances should a man treating a child like that be excusable; striking a child in the head will kill them, and he should have known that.
Update: Mr. Spellman was convicted of 3rd degree murder (reasonable since it was an act of passion) with up to 47 years in prison
Jury talking in infant-death case [The Philadelphia Inquirer]
Update:
Man who killed tot over Xbox convicted [The Philadelphia Inquirer]
Asterick
Posted to Video Games on 29 January 2008
· Comments (7)
Other stuff like this: defence, murder, poor legal stratagy, video game obsession
...disgusting.
Hopefully the jury will understand that a lack of anger management skills is not related to video gaming at all, but to a lack of anger management. Last thing I, and I'm sure many others, want is another unwarranted black mark on video gamers and video gaming.
The idea that video games are the direct reason for violence and anger is like saying that it's the automobile's fault that people enter a state of road rage.
Anyone else notice this trend of denying personal responsibility when it comes to stuff like this?
Please tell me this isn't a viable defense for what he did....please :(
This reminds me of the Twinkie Defence that Dan White used in 1978. Not that I was there, but I have been trying to brush up on my LGBT history.
This sounds like a good story for Dan Savage's "Every Child Deserves a Mother and A Father" series...
So if she say, tumbled over and broke a plate and he did the same thing, he would have an obsession with plates?
The guy's obviously emotionally and mentally unstable, and probably would have killed his daughter eventually even had she not broke his 360.
If this case doesn't get dismissed, any prosecutor worth the paper on which their degree is printed will get a conviction.
Oh, the poor wee thing...I wish she hadn't died, but perhaps it saved her a lifetime of abuse and neglect.
Humans really are scum sometimes, eh?