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Mortal Kombat kills a 7 year old, apparently...

  • 21-12-2007 2:21pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 46,814 ✭✭✭✭


    Ok, now before i even start, this is a terrible story, and I hope the two people responsible get the maximum term possible for what they have done.

    http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=178056

    Two teenagers have been arrested after killing a seven-year-old girl by immitating moves from the Mortal Kombat games say prosecutors.

    We've all shouted "GET OVER HERE" and pretended to uppercut a mate in the face in our yoof, but Heather Trujillo, 16, and Lamar Roberts, 17, went way further under the influence when they "hit, kicked and body-slammed" Trujillo's half sister, Zoe Garcia, until she lost consciousness.

    The two teens were supposed to be babysitting little Garcia, on December 6, when they seized the opportunity to drink alcohol and immitate Mortal Kombat moves on the child.

    Trujillo, according to released documents, admitted she'd "punched her in the stomach, karate chopped her lower arms, punched and pinched the victim's thighs, kicked her in the shins, slapped her stomach and buttocks and poked at the victim's chest."

    Witnesses say Roberts performed a back kick on Garcia, from which she did not get up. He then cracked an egg in her mouth, apparently to check if she was faking unconsciousness.

    When Garcia regained consciousness Trujillo sent her to bed, according to the documents, but she stopped breathing 15 minutes later.

    They reportedly tried to revive Garcia, but she later died in hospital. The autopsy showed she had suffered a broken wrist, bleeding in the neck, swelling of the brain and more than 20 bruises.

    Roberts claimed he was downstairs playing videogames while Trujillo wrestled with Garcia upstairs. A witness said later, however, that Roberts told her he'd kicked Garcia.

    The two teens of Jamestown, Colorado, who said they didn't stop the attack because they were drunk, are being held on trial for child abuse causing death, and face up to 48 years imprisonment.
    ___________________________________

    Again, a terrible story - but from the information given here, and other articles i have read, what has Mortal Kombat got to do with it? Aren't they simply using computer games, yet again, to fob off responsibility? "It isn't my fault my child is a child killing scumbag, its the computer game..."

    What character in mortal kombat pinches thighs? Or pokes the opponent in the chest? Or slap stomach/arse? None of the characters i have ever used.


Comments

  • Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 25,872 Mod ✭✭✭✭Doctor DooM


    No character in Mortal Kombat allows their kid to get pissed while in charge of their younger sister, who proceeds to kill her either.

    There are 2 problems here- underage drinking and a lack of responsiblility on the part of the parents- but I bet that story wont come to light.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 16,698 Mod ✭✭✭✭Silverfish


    Well, Mortal Kombat didn't kill a 7 year old, those two ****ers did.

    And that blaming the game thing gets me, blame the people who reared them.
    If they can't see the line between right and wrong, then it's the fault of their parents, not of some game.

    Hope they get the full 48 years, at least.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 55,571 ✭✭✭✭Mr E


    You could blame any fighting game. Just because he said "Get over here", its tied to MK.

    Just as well they didn't attempted any fatalities (gory finishing moves from the game).


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,454 ✭✭✭hf4z6sqo7vjngi


    terrible story, hope they get what they deserve


  • Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 25,872 Mod ✭✭✭✭Doctor DooM


    Wrestling will be blamed as well before this story is over. American media is getting laughable at its predictabilty. I wonder did they listen to rock music, too?


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  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 32,865 ✭✭✭✭MagicMarker


    Did the teens themselves say they were immitating the moves? If they did then i don't see anything wrong with the article. Of course if the journalist just picked mortal kombat out from the sky then that's not on.

    Ya'd think they'd go with the wrestling option, or Marilyn Manson:)

    Terrible story though!! Bastards!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,772 ✭✭✭jameshayes


    They could have used any number of games but i suppose mortal kombat had the best 'ring' to it!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,499 ✭✭✭Sabre0001


    Terrible story...Not much else to say really.

    🤪



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,836 ✭✭✭Vokes


    Did the teens themselves say they were immitating the moves? If they did then i don't see anything wrong with the article.
    The article does seem to be implying that.

    Need more info tbh.


  • Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 23,276 Mod ✭✭✭✭Kiith


    Tauren wrote: »
    He then cracked an egg in her mouth, apparently to check if she was faking unconsciousness.
    That was always my favourite fatality as well...


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,273 ✭✭✭Morlar


    SDooM wrote: »
    No character in Mortal Kombat allows their kid to get pissed while in charge of their younger sister, who proceeds to kill her either.

    I think that says it all.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,216 ✭✭✭Kur4mA


    More stupid parents and idiotic news reporters. The computerandvideogames site is feckin worse for publishing this on their own site. This crap is detrimental to their entire business, and is as usual using a completely wrong context to blame the gaming industry.

    The newslines are retarded. I really hate this **** to be honest. It should read more like "Parents leave teenagers with access to alcohol to babysit child which results in childs death"


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,267 ✭✭✭mcgovern


    I hope the two of them get the chair.
    Has nothing to do with games, just two evil ****ers.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 32,865 ✭✭✭✭MagicMarker


    I certainly don't think it's the parents fault. How could they possibly see this happening? Lot's of 15/16 year olds babysit children in homes with plentyful supplies of alcohol!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,273 ✭✭✭Morlar


    I certainly don't think it's the parents fault. How could they possibly see this happening? Lot's of 15/16 year olds babysit children in homes with plentyful supplies of alcohol!

    Parents cant blame society for their shortcomings as parents. If they raise a depraved teenager with no respect for human life then its not the fault of a video game manufacturer - or a film director - or a music group. Parents need to supervise their kids and restrict access to alcohol. Learn to take personal responsibility for how their children turn out and stop blaming external factors. Ultimately it is the fault of the guilty teenagers and their parents. (imo).


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,225 ✭✭✭Keith186


    As said above only the title of the article links this to MK.
    Could have been titled 'Teens kill child after imitating Karate Kid movie' or anything else tbh. I'm regretting that I even made a comment about this sh1te as it's not worth a comment.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 32,865 ✭✭✭✭MagicMarker


    Morlar wrote: »
    Parents cant blame society for their shortcomings as parents. If they raise a depraved teenager with no respect for human life then its not the fault of a video game manufacturer - or a film director - or a music group. Parents need to supervise their kids and restrict access to alcohol. Learn to take personal responsibility for how their children turn out and stop blaming external factors. Ultimately it is the fault of the guilty teenagers and their parents. (imo).
    By that logic, the parents should also get 48 years in prison. We don't know anything about these kids or their upbringing. For all we know they're straight A students who do charity work in their free time.

    What we do know is that two kids were incredibly stupid and got drunk and now a little girl is dead. Fair enough maybe they shouldn't have had access to alcohol. But lots of kids do and it's unfair to blame the parents for having some faith in their own children to act responsibly.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,273 ✭✭✭Morlar


    This is a topic that could probably run and run and run.

    Whether they are straght A students & do charity work is irrelevant. What they did and why is the issue - not what grades they got or how they earned extra credit.

    Now that you mention it I think if parents start being legally held responsible to some degree for what their kids do then parenting skills would overnight improve exponentially. Thats just a theory - so no I dont have a cso study to prove it your welcome to disagree.

    In any event this is not the fault of a video game designer/movie director/music group (the usual scapegoats for poor parenting/supervision).

    You dont have to look far (ie todays bbc uk homepage) to see what this kind of lazy thinking//scapegoating and media reporting leads to

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7156169.stm

    ie bad parents & lazy media blame video games for their kids depravity rather than address parenting skills and the amount of and quality of attention paid to their children and that all snowballs in a media frenzy which results in censorship and in the case of the bbc link from today (which is not related to the above story) video games being prohibited.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 32,865 ✭✭✭✭MagicMarker


    I agree with what you're saying, and i certainly don't think it's the fault of any scapegoat. And if parents were more legally accountable then parenting skills would and should improve. But sometimes kids are just fúcking crazy:)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 320 ✭✭Trode


    Mortal Kombat kills children? Is it 1992 already?

    Seriously, the only reference to the game seems to be the prosecutor saying they were copying it. One of the killers was apparently playing videogames (although he claims he was doing this instead of brutalising a seven year old, so his claim is suspect), and I can't see any proof they were influenced by the game at all, unless Mortal Kombat invented the concept of kicking. Apparently the prosecutor just hasn't heard of Manhunt.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,267 ✭✭✭mcgovern


    What we do know is that two kids were incredibly stupid and got drunk and now a little girl is dead. Fair enough maybe they shouldn't have had access to alcohol. But lots of kids do and it's unfair to blame the parents for having some faith in their own children to act responsibly.

    Incredibly stupid would the girlfriend getting pregnant. Killing a child (and it wasn't just one kick or an isolated incident) is incredibly depraved and in fact, the chair is not good enough for them.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 16,339 ✭✭✭✭tman


    Tauren wrote: »
    Witnesses say Roberts performed a back kick on Garcia, from which she did not get up. He then cracked an egg in her mouth, apparently to check if she was faking unconsciousness.

    I suppose video games are to blame for these witnesses not intervening as well.
    Pretty much everybody involved in this case, from the act itself to the reporting, is a total asshole imo.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,372 ✭✭✭The Bollox


    Tauren wrote:
    He then cracked an egg in her mouth, apparently to check if she was faking unconsciousness
    Kiith wrote: »
    That was always my favourite fatality as well...
    was that not a Friendship?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 907 ✭✭✭Den_M


    That's very sad, the pair of them are obviously a bit mad in the head, I played MK all the time during my youth and I don't go around snuffing people. Hope they get what's coming to them.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,835 ✭✭✭unreggd


    no1 does a body slam in MK!!!

    Idiots!

    Sad abt the girl, teens must have serious issues


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 16,658 ✭✭✭✭Peyton Manning


    Too many people imitating video games these days which is unfortunate. Just last week I was out in town for a few drinks, and two lads started having a row outside a nightclub. One of them stunned the other guy, roared 'fatality!' in a deep voice and morphed into a giant dragon and ate the other guy. Poor parenting imo.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 16,339 ✭✭✭✭tman


    unreggd wrote: »
    no1 does a body slam in MK!!!

    Jax did iirc, not that the story gains any more credibility from that...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 605 ✭✭✭ghouldaddy07


    Unless someone rips of someone’s head off with dangling spine or throws a cd containing mortal kombat trilogy like a ninja star leading to a comical death

    mortal kombat isn’t responsible I say the only actual fault mortal kombat had was being in those idiots game collection when some hack of a journalist popped around to leach of the misery.

    But now all the American parents can burn effigy’s of manhunt 2 and mortal kombat and Mario sunshine and buy their kids handguns instead of a Nintendo wii

    /rant over

    Hope those two get the chair being drunk isn’t an excuse for beating a little girl to death


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 28,128 ✭✭✭✭Mossy Monk


    I played video games and got pissed as a teenager. How come I didn't brutalise a child? Is there something wrong with mt?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,977 ✭✭✭GhostInTheRuins


    It turnes out they were playing Mortal Combat at the time. Here's a different source of the story, more detailed:
    trujillo-and-roberts.jpg

    Two Colorado teens, Heather Trujillo, of Johnstown and her boyfriend, Lamar Roberts, of Westminster were arrested on Tuesday, charged in the death of Trujillo’s 7-year-old half-sister, Zoe Garcia.

    Trujillo, 16, and Roberts, 17, were in charge of babysitting Zoe and Trujillo’s 3-year-old twin half-sisters on December 6th while the girls’ mother, Dana Trujillo, 30, was working 5 blocks away at the Corral Bar.

    Authorities arrived at the Trujillo residence around 11:00pm and found Zoe unconscious and not breathing.

    At first, Roberts told police that he was downstairs watching television while Trujillo and Zoe wrestled upstairs. An unnamed witness, however, told authorities that Roberts said that Zoe had asked them to stop wrestling and when asked by the friend why they didn’t, he responded, “I don’t know; I was drunk.” He claims to be a martial-arts expert with his hands registered as “lethal weapons.”

    Trujillo later admitted to police that after eating dinner with Zoe, she and Roberts began wrestling, playing a game they called “Mortal Kombat.” In the affidavit, Trujillo said she then”tripped the victim, punching her in the stomach; karate chopped her lower arms, punched and pinched the victim’s thighs, kicked her in the shins, slapped her stomach and buttocks, and poked at the victim’s chest.” She claims Zoe playfully did the same thing back in a playful manner and, at one point, Trujillo tried to pick Zoe up to try to shake her but instead dropped her on her right arm.

    Roberts said he had performed a back kick on her and then kicked her again as she ran toward him, which made her fall back. She didn’t get up and had stopped breathing.

    They said they put her in a bath, which only temporarily revived her, but she stopped breathing again. Roberts said he cracked an egg in her mouth “to see if she was messing around with them” but it went down her throat.

    A full 15 minutes later, the pair called Dana Trujillo and then 911.

    When she arrived at the North Colorado Medical Center, she was pronounced dead.

    An autopsy revealed that Zoe had died of blunt force trauma. The girl had sustained a broken right wrist, more than 20 bruises over her body, swelling of the brain, bleeding in her neck muscles and under her spine. A skin flap near her tongue had also been torn. Her death was categorized as a homicide.

    The grandmother of Dana Trujillo’s twins, Peggy Jeffries, says she had been concerned about the wellbeing of Zoe and the twins.

    “I was concerned about them eating and being well taken care of,” Jeffries said. She claims to have become concerned about the children’s wellbeing when she picked up Zoe from school one day and found bruises on her arms and chest. Zoe told her the bruises came from Roberts.

    Jeffries said she contacted Social Services, but they never took the actions necessary to prevent a tragedy like this from happening. “I tried to do everything in the world, but it was too late,” she said.

    A neighbor said she suspected Zoe was being abused and said she reported it to authorities before she died.

    Rhonda Simonetti said she baby-sat Zoe and the twins twice, for four days each time, when she noticed bruises on Zoe. “The first time I asked her, she said she fell down the stairs. The second time, she started crying and said Lamar had been hitting her.”

    Simonetti said she took a day off to report the abuse but never heard back.

    Another neighbor, Jessy Golden, said she contacted social services after Zoe told her that a couch had fallen on the head of one of the twins.

    The Weld County Department of Social Services refuse to discuss the case.

    Zoe’s father, Anthony Garcia, said he and Dana Trujillo had joint custody of Zoe but said he had just discovered her whereabouts after a three-year search. He was working on papers to get custody of her when he learned of her death on December 7th.

    Neighbors describe the Trujillo family, who moved to the quiet neighborhood last April, as “combative.”

    “They didn’t fit in,” said next-door neighbor, Laura Valdivieso. “They were noisy and disruptive.”

    She described Zoe was “a beautiful little girl” who “made friends with everybody. I gave her a jump-rope, which she used almost every single day.”

    Her husband, John Valdivieso, said Zoe once asked him for some bread, which he understood to mean she was looking for food to eat. He gave her half a loaf. “When the police came to tell us she had died, my wife took it very hard. She started crying.” He adds, “Zoe helped me dig out some dandelions last summer. She was very sweet.”

    Dana Trujillo’s sister, Erika Hoffman, says all the accusations leveled against the household only worsen the tragedy and distort the truth. “I think she provided a safe home for them. I think she is as good a mother as I’ve ever seen,” she said.

    Hoffman revealed to media, after Friday’s hearing for the teens, that county social services took the twins after Zoe’s death.

    The teens are charged with on count of felony child abuse causing death, a Class II felony. Both are being held on $100,000 bond. They have been charged as adults and, if convicted, face 16 to 48 years in prison.

    I hope they get everything coming to them.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 19,986 ✭✭✭✭mikemac


    A 16 & 17 year old could potentially be sentanced to 48 years? :eek:
    And be charged as adults?

    I'm sure they deserve it but the Americans don't mess around with sentancing.
    Sure a life sentance in Ireland averages 15 years afaik (open to correction)

    Edit: Average is 12 years http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_imprisonment#Ireland


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 907 ✭✭✭Den_M


    That guy is 17?!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,499 ✭✭✭Sabre0001


    2nd story points to more bad parenting - the gran had seen bruises as a result of one of the kids but yet they were still trusted with the child...

    Depraved children - sure most people have play fought but with someone their own age and not in a vicious manner; why did they think it would be a good idea to crack an egg in her mouth...The mind boggles sometimes.....

    🤪



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,449 ✭✭✭Call Me Jimmy


    This is bullsh!t. The "moves" they were copying are irrelevent, can people not see that the actions are those of ****ed up individuals and absolutely nothing to do with video games? I hate the way any excuse is used to build up this "video games are bad" story. It frustrates me how blind and brain-dead people can be about this issue. The issue is nothing to do with games and movies, it's to do with responsibility.

    EDIT: Someone made the point about guns which is good. In america there are top people like Hillary Clinton who have advocated a ban on violent videogames but yet think it's ok to have guns available to all adults? Hmmmm....


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,285 ✭✭✭Smellyirishman


    Second article suggests they were not even playing the video-game.

    We've all played IRA, Bulldogs-charge, "Wrestling" and indeed MK from younger ages but we knew what was too much. There was something wrong with these two, be it the way they were raised, the alcohol in their systems or mental issues.


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  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 32,865 ✭✭✭✭MagicMarker


    That's awful tbh, it looks like there was long term abuse:(

    By the way, i don't see where that article ''blames'' videogames. They said themselves they were playing ''mortal kombat''. If that's what they said then the journalists is fully entitled to reference it. There's really no other mention of the game other than that.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,405 ✭✭✭gizmo


    mk2babalityhj5.png

    ?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 605 ✭✭✭ghouldaddy07


    gizmo wrote: »
    mk2babalityhj5.png

    ?


    I should not of laughed but it was hilarious


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 605 ✭✭✭ghouldaddy07


    now for more fuel to the fire of sadistic people blaming video games

    http://kotaku.com/337047/chinese-kid-becomes-fire-mage-sets-fire-to-classmate

    Ai you - to add to the ever growing collection of bizarre stories from the Chinese gaming world comes news that a 17 year old high school student has been sentenced for setting a classmate on fire. What does this have to do with gaming, you ask? Because the kid 'thought' he was a WoW fire mage. Now, in China, the 'but the video game made me do it!' defense doesn't work so well (the kid was sentenced to 8 years in prison, his accomplice - who lured the victim outside with the old line about wanting to chat for a bit - was sentenced to 7, and both boys and their families were ordered to pay a 760,000 RMB restitution - over $100K USD - to the victim and his family), so there's nothing to gain - nor a lawsuit to pursue - by pointing the finger at Blizzard, The9, or Warcraft. From billsdue:

    It is a very sad story. Both the victim and perpetrator are not from affluent families, are not particularly well-educated, and didn't appear to have great prospects in Chinese society. World of Warcraft, operated by The9 (Nasdaq:NCTY) in China, and other MMOs are a great escape, as is obvious from the tens of millions of Chinese playing in these virtual worlds.

    Good thing for Blizzard and The9 that China's legal system is still developing. If this happened in the US no doubt the victim's family would hire an ambulance chasing lawyer to sue Blizzard for millions, claiming that somehow Blizzard, rather than the parents, was negligent.

    According to an article in the Beijing News [新京報], the 'fire mage' purchased gasoline 5 days prior to the event, which sort of takes the edge off that 'spur of the moment' idea. Furthermore, the interview a Beijing News reporter had with the 'fire mage' was downright disturbing in parts - nothing like sound bites like "[the feeling of watching fire and people burning] is very addictive, very happy!" to make someone come off as perfectly sane. And all this over a schoolyard fight between 17 year olds.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 327 ✭✭Jackabo


    Jezus,lucky they wernt playing Manhunt


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