Very Tragic stuff.... This is Fuel for the Flames but dont take it out on me ;)
2 articles in here , both are quoted from web sources...

Father guilty in death of son
The man pleads guilty to aggravated manslaughter and is sentenced to 15 years in prison.

By DAVID KARP
┬® St. Petersburg Times, published January 3, 2001

TAMPA -- As his 9-month-old son cried last July, Tony Lamont Bragg Sr.'s mind was on something else: a computer game called Everquest.

Authorities believe Bragg squeezed Tony Jr. to keep him quiet, then left him unattended in a utility closet in their Temple Terrace apartment for more than 24 hours. The boy died.

On Tuesday, Bragg, 24, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Bragg had been playing the online fantasy role-playing computer game for hours and appeared to get annoyed by his son's crying, said prosecutor Suzanne Rossomondo.

Bragg discovered his son by his playpen at least 24 hours after the child died. The infant's heart had been punctured, causing him to bleed to death. His ribs and left collarbone were fractured.

Prosecutors originally charged Bragg with first-degree murder, but accepted his guilty plea to the lesser charge because they did not believe he intended to kill his son. "I think it was a horrible case of neglect," Rossomondo said.
Circuit Judge Rex Barbas added five years' probation to the end of Bragg's prison sentence.

Bragg's former wife, Brandy L. Rozier, left their son with Bragg after she lost electricity at her home. She also dropped off Bragg's 4-year-old stepson.

Bragg kept his 9-month-old in a playpen in a 4- by 8-foot utility closet that contained the air conditioner and heater. Authorities found pizza in the kitchen, but an associate medical examiner said the infant was undernourished.
Bragg originally said he was carrying his son when the child's head, chest and shoulder slammed into a door frame.
Before he was supposed to drop off his son at a relative's home, Bragg noticed his son was not breathing. He called 911.
The boy's mother, who is separated from Bragg, has two other children. Both are in state custody.
Rossomondo said she told the child's mother about the plea deal. "She was very happy about it," Rossomondo said.

- David Karp can be reached at (813) 226-3376 or karp@....

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THIS PART QUOTED FROM http://www.stratics.com/content/thundolfe/barnyard.shtml

I play EverQuest, therefore I am going straight to Hell (I have to kill someone first, though, hang on)
Wednesday, January 3, 2001 - 2:01 PM EST Just when you thought it was safe to have some fun. Bleh.

The St. Petersburg Times is reporting that Tony Bragg, 24, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of his 9-month-old son. Since this is an MMOG - related website (Your Massively Multiplayer Network!), you've probably guessed that it has to be tied in here somewhere, right?

Sadly, yes. From the article:

TAMPA -- As his 9-month-old son cried last July, Tony Lamont Bragg Sr.'s mind was on something else: a computer game called Everquest.

Authorities believe Bragg squeezed Tony Jr. to keep him quiet, then left him unattended in a utility closet in their Temple Terrace apartment for more than 24 hours. The boy died.

Bragg had been playing the online fantasy role-playing computer game for hours and appeared to get annoyed by his son's crying.

You know, I'm not here to scold the father because he put a video game above his child as much as I'm concerned that video games are gonna be scapegoated again. I think everyone can think of choice words for him in regards to what he did ("HELLO. YOU'RE A GOD DAMN IDIOT."). What I'm most upset about is people are not going to focus on the fact that someone KILLED THEIR OWN KID, but that there was a certain video game involved. And, of course, we all know that Dungeons and Dragons is evil.

D&D has become the scapegoat of suicides, murders, rapings, Mickey Mouse sightings, depression, and any other number of various childhood incidents. Articles abound from fanatics that claim that these games are evil.

Stratics writer Darien Kane recently published an outstanding essay on this very topic:

From then on, all kinds of 'renowned' authors started attacking RPGs, mainly poor Dungeons and Dragons. 'The Truth about Dungeons and Dragons', by a lady called Joan Hake Robie, attains a level of intellect matched only once in history when OSI decided to implement Stat Loss in Ultima Online. The author writes: "Dungeons and Dragons is not a game. Some believe it to be a teaching [sic] the following:". She then lists 22 activities, including blasphemy, assassination, insanity, sexual perversion, homosexuality, prostitution, Satan worship, and necromancy.

Well, you know what? I'm sick of that crap.

I play EverQuest. Guess what! I:

┬À         Am not Christian.
┬À         Am socially active.
┬À         Am responsible for my well-being.
┬À         Am not going to Hell.
┬À         Okay maybe I am going to Hell, but for different reasons.

The fact is is that video games, movies, and other products of the entertainment industry have fast become the best excuse for parents who don't feel like keeping an eye on what their kids are doing. It's quite easy to place blame on EverQuest and such just because you don't feel like rocking your damn baby to sleep. There are games out there that might not be appropriate, sure. But it is NOT THE GOVERNMENT'S JOB to keep an eye on your kids. That's YOUR responsibility.

Hell, the issue here isn't games at all. You can make all sorts of new sentences out of that newspaper article. For example:

As his 9-month-old son cried last July, Tony Lamont Bragg Sr.'s mind was on something else: his last OTB bet.

or

As his 9-month-old son cried last July, Tony Lamont Bragg Sr.'s mind was on something else: where his next hit of heroin was coming from.

or

As his 9-month-old son cried last July, Tony Lamont Bragg Sr.'s mind was on something else: the mutant space-donkey from the planet Zanzabar that's bearing his illegitimate child.

Or insert your favorite misdemeanor. It doesn't matter.

If you don't want your children to play video games, that's fine. I assure you that game developers want the best for your kids. Conversely, you should *probably* (note sarcasm) take care of your baby first before you settle down for some D&D action. One of my guildmembers has a 9-month old son. He has cut back on his playtime drastically because he realizes that THE KID COMES FIRST. We miss him, sure. But we're equally glad that he realizes what his priorities are. Another of my dear friends is an EQ addict, MARRIED to one, yet still finds the time to raise a 12 year old son and a 10 year old daughter, both wonderfully healthy and happy.

You shouldn't blame the game. It's not the game's fault. Suck it up and take some damn responsibility.

NecroGod, of the EQSS Westwood Tavern (you can find a busy thread about this topic here) says it quite nicely.

The mother is FRIGGIN HAPPY that he got a lesser sentence! WAKE UP BITCH, YOUR SON IS DEAD, MURDERED BY HIS FATHER! In my opinion, she should join him in prison.

This is also yet ANOTHER example of not pinning the blame where blame is due. The very first line of the article plainly sets the scene that it was the father's involvement in EQ that made him kill his son, not his ever-present drug problem or mental deficiencies or anything like that.

Why the hell can't people take responsibility for their own actions, and why is the press so afraid to blame somebody directly? Why must it be a video game that made somebody tweak, or a movie that made somebody freak out?

Screw the media, burn the father, bury the mother. All I can picture over and over is that poor, innocent child alone and lost inside a CLOSET while he bled to death.

Amen.

I think my feelings are best summed up by this Usenet post:

...D&D is not to blame for the problems with youth, as well as video games. It is honestly the parents' fault, and you all are too damn delusional to deal with the fact that maybe you aren't the biblical, saintly parents you think youselves to be. Get a life and deal with your own problems. It's your fault, not the video games, music or Dungeons and Dragons or other such RPG. Learn about something before you go judging it. Thank you for your time and please go to hell.

Maybe, Mr. Bragg, you should have held off on camping that Ghoul Lord and LEARNED HOW TO BE A PARENT FIRST.

Quit giving people who play these games a bad name.

Update: AVault updated their coverage with this story that minimizes the role, if any, EverQuest played in the homicide. Here's a clip:

EverQuest was merely the preoccupation of the moment for Bragg, Littman added, saying it could have just have easily been televised football or any other occupation of men in their twenties, instead. "Bragg is sadly typical of many young people today," said Littman. "He had children before he was ready to take care of them."

While I'm glad that both sides realize the game really wasn't a factor, I stand by my original point. Disclaimer or not, this is simply more fuel for the fire for right-wing groups that claim D&D-type games are a cause of this type of behavior.

Lum writes a fantastic piece on this subject as well. - Thundolfe