Video games find themselves questionably in the news once again, with a report of another horrific crime.
26-year old Devone McCrary of Paterson, North Jersey, was killed in May of last year by John Rosa, 23. The dispute which led to Rosa stabbing McCrary in the chest was, according to reports, over a Game Boy SP which had been stolen some weeks previously.
Rosa pleaded guilty in December to “passion-provocation-manslaughter” in court. His sentence for his crime? 5 and a half years, a verdict which McCrary’s mother is, unsurprisingly, not pleased with.
“I feel it is just not enough,” she noted, addressing Rosa following the announcement of the verdict. “I want you to think real hard about what you took away from me over a video game. I hope you suffer.”
What many press outlets’ emphasis on the “Game Boy” angle of the case doesn’t pay enough attention to, however, is that there were apparently “escalating tensions between two groups of friends over a period of weeks”, according to Robert Pringle, Passaic County senior assistant prosecutor. The confrontation over the stolen handheld was merely the endpoint to growing ill-feeling between the two groups, not the cause.
Pringle noted that the case was “complex” and that the grand jury had difficulty deciding whether Rosa should be indicted on passion-provocation-manslaughter or the more serious charge of murder. He cited the circumstances of McCrary’s final moments as the reason for this: when Rosa arrived at the scene, armed with a concealed knife, McCrary was handed a screwdriver with which to defend himself. Pringle believed that the grand jury may have questioned whether Rosa only drew the knife in self-defence. Had this continued to trial, Rosa may have ended up with an acquittal.
Pringle believed that the conviction for passion-provocation-manslaughter was the “best outcome” given the facts and evidence. McCrary’s mother disagreed forcefully.
Once again, though, video games are brought to the forefront of a case where there was clearly a lot more going on than first appears. The theft of the Game Boy is a contributing factor in this tragedy—but it is not the cause. The long-term escalating tension between the groups of friends is the cause. That, and the culture that has taught them it’s OK to show up to resolve a dispute with a concealed weapon.
For every step forward, three steps back?
Source: NorthJersey.com
Popularity: unranked [?]
No comments