JOHNSTOWN, Colorado (AP) -- Two teens have been charged with killing the 7-year-old sister of one of them by beating her with imitations of moves from the "Mortal Kombat" video game, prosecutors said.
Heather Trujillo, 16, in charged in the beating death of her half-sister, Zoe Garcia, 7.
1 of 2 Lamar Roberts, 17, and Heather Trujillo, 16, were charged as adults on one count each of felony child abuse causing death, state prosecutor Robert Miller said in court documents released Wednesday and filed a day earlier.
According to a police affidavit, the teens were baby-sitting Trujillo's half-sister, Zoe Garcia, on December 6 while the girl's mother was at work.
Zoe lost consciousness and stopped breathing after the teens hit, kicked and body-slammed her, imitating moves used in the video game, the document said.
Trujillo and Roberts tried reviving the girl by putting her under running water and attempting CPR before they called her mother and 911, the affidavits stated. The girl died at a hospital.
An autopsy showed she had a broken wrist, more than 20 bruises, swelling of the brain, and bleeding in her neck muscles and under her spine, the affidavits said.
Sheriff's spokeswoman Margie Martinez said late Wednesday that she did not know whether either teen had an attorney. The teens were being held at the Weld County jail but were not permitted to accept phone calls, Martinez said.
Roberts said he was downstairs playing video games while the sisters wrestled upstairs, police said. But a witness quoted in the affidavit said Roberts told her he had kicked the girl.
The witness told police that Roberts said Zoe had told them to stop wrestling. According to the affidavit, when the witness asked why they didn't stop, he responded, "I don't know; I was drunk."
If convicted, the teens could be sentenced to 48 years in prison.
"An autopsy showed she had a broken wrist, more than 20 bruises, swelling of the brain, and bleeding in her neck muscles and under her spine, the affidavits said."
There was a lot more going on here than just imitating some moves.
After reading the article, it seems that the only people claiming MK is responsible are the prosecutors. Why don't they take a different tack and say something like "They did it because they were seriously disturbed." Oh yeah...they wouldn't make national headlines if they claimed the mundane truth.
These guys need to get with the times...the new game that breeds sociopaths is 'Manhunt 2'.
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is available on PS2. I know, I own a copy of the game.
When I read the OP title I had in mind a kid killed from a "Fatality" move.
ASVS('97)/SDN('03)
"Whilst human alchemists refer to the combustion triangle, some of their orcish counterparts see it as more of a hexagon: heat, fuel, air, laughter, screaming, fun." Dawn of the Dragons
Enigma wrote:Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is available on PS2. I know, I own a copy of the game.
When I read the OP title I had in mind a kid killed from a "Fatality" move.
Admittedly, I thought it was "GET OVER HERE" Gone horribly wrong.
I don't think there is a right way by being speared. Being speared in any way would go horribly wrong.
ASVS('97)/SDN('03)
"Whilst human alchemists refer to the combustion triangle, some of their orcish counterparts see it as more of a hexagon: heat, fuel, air, laughter, screaming, fun." Dawn of the Dragons
I just checked on Wikipedia to confirm that the ESRB rated the 'Mortal Kombat' games M (Mature). The fact that kids under the age of 18 got their hands on one of the games suggests an adult-- either the parent(s) who bought the game, or the clerks at the store that sold the game-- was being foolishly negligent.
Those gun nuts do not understand the meaning of "overkill," and will simply use weapon after weapon of mass destruction (WMD) until the monster is dead, or until they run out of weapons.
They have more WMD than there are monsters for us to fight. (More insanity here.)
Sidewinder wrote:I just checked on Wikipedia to confirm that the ESRB rated the 'Mortal Kombat' games M (Mature). The fact that kids under the age of 18 got their hands on one of the games suggests an adult-- either the parent(s) who bought the game, or the clerks at the store that sold the game-- was being foolishly negligent.
Awwww come on how hard is it for someone my age to get a copy of an M rated.
The witness told police that Roberts said Zoe had told them to stop wrestling. According to the affidavit, when the witness asked why they didn't stop, he responded, "I don't know; I was drunk."
So they are going to gloss over the fact that one or more of these kids was drunk when this shit happened? Fucking unbelievable.
"If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little." -George Carlin (1937-2008)
"Have some of you Americans actually seen Football? Of course there are 0-0 draws but that doesn't make them any less exciting." -Dr Roberts, with quite possibly the dumbest thing ever said in 10 years of SDNet.
FSTargetDrone wrote:
Video games are an easy bogeyman and the terror of the times for the youth of today. The idea that we might vilify alcohol is a no-go.
Today? They've been an easy bogeyman for the last 20 years.
"It's you Americans. There's something about nipples you hate. If this were Germany, we'd be romping around naked on the stage here."
FSTargetDrone wrote:
Video games are an easy bogeyman and the terror of the times for the youth of today. The idea that we might vilify alcohol is a no-go.
Today? They've been an easy bogeyman for the last 20 years.
I know, I could have worded it better. First it was rock music, then D&D, now it's video games.
It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.
Hit it. Blank Yellow (NSFW)
FSTargetDrone wrote:
Video games are an easy bogeyman and the terror of the times for the youth of today. The idea that we might vilify alcohol is a no-go.
Today? They've been an easy bogeyman for the last 20 years.
I know, I could have worded it better. First it was rock music, then D&D, now it's video games.
Of course, ever since Guitar Hero it's been rock music AND video games .
FSTargetDrone wrote:I know, I could have worded it better. First it was rock music, then D&D, now it's video games.
You left out jazz, movies, comic books, and a host of other pop culture media.
"There is no "taboo" on using nuclear weapons." -Julhelm
What is Project Zohar? "On a serious note (well not really) I did sometimes jump in and rate nBSG episodes a '5' before the episode even aired or I saw it."- RogueIce explaining that episode ratings on SDN tv show threads are bunk
Sidewinder wrote:I just checked on Wikipedia to confirm that the ESRB rated the 'Mortal Kombat' games M (Mature). The fact that kids under the age of 18 got their hands on one of the games suggests an adult-- either the parent(s) who bought the game, or the clerks at the store that sold the game-- was being foolishly negligent.
Toothless crap. Are these ratings still in play where these old games are sold at yard sales for a dollar?
"Brian, if I parked a supertanker in Central Park, painted it neon orange, and set it on fire, it would be less obvious than your stupidity." --RedImperator
Phantasee wrote:If they said they were disturbed, they get less time. It makes them less responsible for their actions, somehow. Pleading temporary insanity?
Choice Snippet wrote:GREELEY- Two teens charged with the death of a 7-year-old Johnstown girl say they were imitating the Mortal Kombat video game.
9NEWS Legal Analyst Scott Robinson says using a video game as a defense in court probably won't work.
"There is no such defense as, 'The video game made me do it.' It won't even act as mitigation at sentencing if these teens are convicted," said Robinson.
"It's you Americans. There's something about nipples you hate. If this were Germany, we'd be romping around naked on the stage here."
Sidewinder wrote:I just checked on Wikipedia to confirm that the ESRB rated the 'Mortal Kombat' games M (Mature). The fact that kids under the age of 18 got their hands on one of the games suggests an adult-- either the parent(s) who bought the game, or the clerks at the store that sold the game-- was being foolishly negligent.
According to the ESRB itself M is only 17 and up. So the male, who was 17, could quite legally have bought it.
"How can I wait unknowing?
This is the price of war,
We rise with noble intentions,
And we risk all that is pure..." - Angela & Jeff van Dyck, Forever (Rome: Total War)
"On and on, through the years,
The war continues on..." - Angela & Jeff van Dyck, We Are All One (Medieval 2: Total War)
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight
Yeah, it really looks like it was the game itself.
The witness told police that Roberts said Zoe had told them to stop wrestling. According to the affidavit, when the witness asked why they didn't stop, he responded, "I don't know; I was drunk."