Daniel PetriÃÂ (; born August 24, 1991) is an American convicted murderer from Wellington, Ohio. At age 16, he shot his parents after his father confiscated his video game. His mother died, but his father recovered. He is incarcerated for life, with a chance for parole. Studies of video game addiction or the effects of violent video games on society, as well as gun control, often mention PetriÃÂ.
PetriÃÂ was born on August 24, 1991, to Mark PetriÃÂ, a Pentecostal minister, and Susan PetriÃÂ. He lived in Brighton Township with his parents and attended high school in nearby Wellington. Following a skiing injury, PetriÃÂ contracted a staphylococcus infection and was housebound for a year. During this time, he was introduced to the Halo video game series. PetriÃÂ quickly became addicted to the games, often playing for "seven or eight hours a day" at his friend Jonathan Johnson's house. When PetriÃÂ's father insisted that he leave home if he could not curtail his gaming, PetriÃÂ moved in with the friend for a weekend, playing Halo for as much as eighteen hours a day with minimal breaks. Eventually, PetriÃÂ bought his own copy of the newly released Halo 3 without his father's knowledge, but Mark soon caught him with the game and confiscated it, placing it in a safe that also contained a nine-millimeter (9mm) Taurus PT92 handgun.
On October 20, 2007about a week after the game was confiscatedPetriÃÂ found the key to the safe, from which he then removed the game and the gun. Around 7 PM, he came up behind his parents while they were sitting on a couch and said, "Would you close your eyes, I have a surprise for you." He then shot them. Susan PetriÃÂ died from wounds in the head, arms, and chest. PetriÃÂ then placed the gun in his father's hand. A few minutes later, PetriÃÂ's sister Heidi and her husband arrived at the house, planning to watch a baseball game on television. PetriÃÂ warned them not to enter, claiming that their parents were fighting, but the couple forced their way in after hearing groans from inside. PetriÃÂ fled the scene in the family van, but he was pursued and captured by police.
PetriÃÂ's trial was held from December 15 to 17, 2008 at the Lorain County Court of Common Pleas in Elyria, Ohio; Petric elected a bench trial.
At the trial, PetriÃÂ was seen crying. His father was supportive and said Petric deeply regretted what he had done.
The prosecutor, Anthony Cillo, portrayed PetriÃÂ as a heartless killer. He showed no remorse for his actions, so he claimed, and tried to set up the shooting as a suicide. He had planned his crime carefully, knowing that Heidi Archer and her husband planned to enter the house at 9 PM, but his plot was foiled when they arrived two hours early. In a psychological report ordered by the defense, PetriÃÂ had informed the psychologist that he had planned the murder of his parents for a week.
James Kersey represented PetriÃÂ as the defense attorney. Neither Kersey nor PetriÃÂ attempted to dispute the facts of the crime; instead, Kersey argued for the insanity defense, video game addiction being the underlying psychiatric condition. Because of the enormous amount of stress put on him due to his severe infection and resultant spinal injury, PetriÃÂ was much more susceptible to being influenced by the game, not to mention his youth. PetriÃÂ, he claimed, was not in the right state of mind to understand the finality of shooting his parents. In other words, he had been playing violent video games so long that he did not realize that real-life death is permanent. The levels of video games can be replayed over and over again; killed and injured characters, including the player himself, return to their original states at every reset. PetriÃÂ, he continued, must have expected that his mother would eventually return to a healthy and normal state, having been immersed in virtual violence so long.
Kersey disputed the prosecution's assertions about PetriÃÂ's personality, using the testimony of PetriÃÂ's family, friends, and acquaintances to contend that he was a typical teenager. The young PetriÃÂ's addiction was strong enough for him take along a video game of all things while fleeing. To Kersey, PetriÃÂ was not a plotting murderer, but someone who spontaneously killed without planning. The defense did not present psychologists for an expert opinion on the mental effects of violent video games.
PetriÃÂ was convicted for aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, and tampering with evidence. Due to his age, PetriÃÂ could not be sentenced to death. The judge sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 23 years, which was the minimum sentence. The maximum sentence PetriÃÂ faced was life in prison without parole, recommended by the prosecuting attorney.
The case has been highlighted in papers and articles regarding video game addiction and video game violence. Halo 3 publisher Microsoft commented briefly to the media, "We are aware of the situation and it is a tragic case." PetriÃÂ is currently serving his sentence at Grafton Correctional Institution and will be eligible for parole in 2030.