A 9-year-old boy visiting his family in Harlem, New York sat down Saturday to play a video game starring his skateboarding hero, Tony Hawk on a brand new Playstation 3 he had received for Christmas; hours later the unthinkable had happened. It always saddens me deeply to read these horrifying stories and think of the wasted lives resulting from such a senseless crime. Seriously if people cannot enjoy the art of playing a video game they should not be allowed anywhere near them, this crime did not result because of a video game - it resulted because of a sick individual and a poor little child who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our thoughts go out the child's family and friends as we will be thinking about them in the beginning of this new year. Details from the story are below (thanks to NY DailyNews):
Paramedics rushed Anthony from the La Salle St. apartment to St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, but the New Jersey boy died in less than an hour, police said. "Anthony was playing ... on PlayStation when his friend came and stabbed him," said the boy's distraught grandfather, Antonio Juela, 59. "My grandson died over a video game." Anthony's devastated mother, Dolores Juela, 35, raged against her son's suspected killer, unable to control her tears.
Morales, wearing a white jacket and blue jeans, looked dazed, exhausted and unshaven last night as he was walked from the 26th Precinct stationhouse. He was charged with murder of nine year-old Anthony and criminal possession of a weapon. Anthony was a fourth-grader at Lindbergh Elementary in Palisades Park, N.J. He loved skateboarding, and was ecstatic about getting a PlayStation system for Christmas.
At one point, Carlos Juela, 31, went to sleep and left Anthony in the care of the three brothers, she said. Two of the brothers left the apartment to get food at about 3 a.m. Anthony and Morales remained behind because they were so engrossed in playing the video game, the distraught mother said. Roughly 30 minutes later, Anthony was stabbed. Dolores Juela arrived at the hospital four hours later for the grim task of identifying her son. "He was so popular in school," she said. "He was such a good boy. He didn't deserve this. He was too young."
Police said Anthony was stabbed several times. A relative said his face had also been slashed and that he had bruises on his arms - perhaps indicating a struggle before the stabbing. Dolores Juela said Morales' mother told her that her son was guilty of the shocking crime. Anthony's grandfather could not get over why an adult would stab his "lovely" little grandson. "Anthony was a loving child who loved his PlayStation," Antonio Juela said. "He got the PlayStation for Christmas and was very happy. He was so happy."
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