This is a list of the top 8 most neglectful parents who inadvertently killed their children because they were too busy playing video games. These tragic circumstances are most horrific due to the total lack of humanity these parents displayed, putting game scores and online reputation before the health and well-being of their child. Be warned, some of these stories are tough to read.
From obsessions with World of Warcraft to worrying addictions to games that are so draining on families that support groups have been created, these parents go to extraordinary awful lengths in their non-existent parenting. Unfortunately, these will not be the only stories of neglect that are a direct result of social media and online distractions that we are provided with in todays' society. This list of negligent gamer parents shows us the stark reality of parenthood set against a virtual background.
The Top 8 Most Fatally Negligent Gamer Parents of All Time,
Toddler Shoots Herself with What She Thought Was a Wii Remote
A 3-year old toddler whose parents allowed her to play shooting games on the Wii, and who owned a non-approved realistic looking game controller/gun, mistook a real gun for the gun-like Wii controller she was used to and ended up shooting herself in the chest, thinking she was playing the game she had grown to love and trust.
The step-dad had gone to check on what he thought was a possible intruder in their home with a gun in hand. He then set the gun (loaded, live) on the table, then went to bed, comfortable in the fact that he and his daughter were safe from intruders.
Watch the awful video and read more about the family and the incident here.
Parents Leave Infant to Play WOW and Infant Suffocates
After getting that craving for World of Warcraft, a Korean mother and father reportedly went to an internt cafe and lost themselves playing the game for hours, leaving their four month old daughter at home, who suffocated to death.
In their defense, the couple said "We were thinking of playing for just an hour or two and returning home like usual, but the game took longer that day."
Click here for the sad details.
Mother Leaves Toddler to Die in Hot Car While She Plays EverQuest with Boyfriend
Christina Cordell and her live-in-boyfriend were too obsessed with playing hours upon hours of EverQuest to notice that they had left 3-year-old daughter, Brianna, in the car. When taking a break, they found that their toddler had died in the car due to heat-related injuries.
EverQuest is an addictive and time-consuming game that has attracted thousands of players who devote 10-20 hours a week or more to the game. Apparently, support groups have even started on the Web for the families of players. One such support group is called Spouses Against EverQuest.
Read more on the story here.
Father Kills Baby for Pulling Down XBox Console
27 year-old Tyrone Spellman killed his 17 month-old daughter, Alayiah Turman, in September of 2006 with at least five blows to the head when she pulled down his Xbox console.
The force of the blows cracked the toddler's skull, killing her instantly.
Spellman was convicted in January of third-degree murder and child endangerment. He was sentenced Thursday, March 13, 2008, to the maximum 22 to 45 years in prison.
Click here for the full story.
Korean Baby Left to Starve While Parents Raised Virtual Child
A Korean couple who lost their jobs and for some reason cared way too much about the fact that they gave birth to a premature child, spent an inordinate amount of time playing the popular online multiplayer game Prius Online.
What is this game? It's basically a simulated life game in which you take on a new personality, and live that character's life by taking care of it on a regular basis. The couple had originally met online.
The couple devoted most of their free time to raising a virtual girl called Anima, whom they loved very much. The character was well-fed, well taken care of, and easy to manage because they could just turn it off after they were done with it. After a 12 hour gaming session, though, they came home to find their REAL baby dead. Autopsy reports say the baby died of malnourishment.
So, in lieu of raising their actual child, who at that point in her life needed nourishment and the care/love of parents more than anything else in the world, the couple decided to focus on a virtual child with elf ears that dresses like a Harajuku girl, because in this world you have to have your priorities straight.
Source
Mother Kills Infant for Interrupting Farmville Game
Alexandra V. Tobias, whose haunting, lifeless, Forest Whitaker stare you will never be able to unsee, was playing Farmville on Facebook, when she was (rudely) interrupted by her 3-month old baby's (incessant) crying.
Alexandra was in the middle of an intense game of Farmville , where she was most likely deciding how much money to spend on her latest crop of fake tomatoes - so naturally, any interruption had to be met with swift justice.
She shook her young, 3-month old baby in order to 'calm him down' or, more likely, release some of her rage. She then took a smoke break to compose herself (yep, she really did) and shook him again.
After the second shaking, the baby was dead.
According to Mashable, some "players" of the overhyped, overused Tomagochi syndicate known as "Farmville" have found it so addicting that they’ve lost their jobs and racked up debts heavier than $1,000 trying to rack up points in the thankless, terrible and fake environment.
Click here for more on the story.
Father Leaves Twins to Drown in Bath While He Plays GameBoy
Gregg J. Kleinmark left his 10-month-old fraternal twins Drew and Bryn Kleinmark unattended in a bathtub for 30 minutes, in order to go three rooms away and play on his Game Boy Advance console, because the best way to wash children is to treat them like white plates that've had spaghetti marinara on them.
As the man went into another room to play a Game Boy Advance for 30 minutes (because clearly, a handheld entertainment system cannot POSSIBLY be moved into another room), he came back to find that he had let his two children drown in the bathtub.
Maybe his Gameboy was low on battery, so he decided to play with it plugged in in another room, so as to not put his children in danger?... Maybe this is giving Kleinmark too much credit.
Kleinmark, wracked with guilt, has tried to kill himself twice and faces up to 10 years in prison.
You can read more details here.
Father Kills Baby for Interrupting EverQuest Game
Tony Lamont Bragg Sr., 24, was playing EverQuest and got annoyed that his 9-month-old son was crying; because how DARE he want food, water, attention or "parenting"?
Bragg squeezed Tony Jr. to keep him quiet, because it had worked with rabbits in a book he'd read. When this wasn't enough to allow him to go back to his video game, he decided to continue on his kick of "Father of the Year" by then leaving the child in a utility closet in their Temple Terrace apartment... for safe keeping.
After a while, it turns out that the infant's heart had been punctured, causing him to bleed to death internally.
His ribs and left collarbone were fractured, due to the squeezing he had undergone at the hand of his father. Bragg only discovered his son by his playpen 24 hours after the child died when he was going to take the child to a relative's house. He now faces 15 years in prison.
You can read more on this disturbing story here.