Brother Kills Brother Over Video Game Dispute

LANSDOWNE, Pa. - July 16, 2007 - These are dark and painful times for the family who lives at a North Maple street home in Lansdowne.

It's where a 13-year-old allegedly stabbed his 16-year-old brother to death on Sunday.
According to the criminal complaint, 13-year-old Jahmir Ricks ran outside shouting "I stabbed my brother" as police arrived at the scene. Their mother reportedly ran out screaming the same thing. Margaret Rebstock was passing by as the tragedy unfolded.

The 13-year-old allegedly stabbed his older brother twice with a steak knife. The blade pierced 16-year-old Anwan Ricks in the heart and lung. He did not survive. Police believe the stabbing occurred during a dispute over a video game that became physical.

[Bloodmask]

My prayers and sentiments go out to the family. No mother wants to bury her child.

Definately very sad.

[BlackIceJoe]

I can't believe you would get a disagree over this. This is a sad thing. I can't imagine the feeling the family is feeling right now knowing there Son is dead and knowing there other Son could face Life in prison. I wish the family my deepest condolences.

[PS360PCROCKS]

Your disagrees truly show their are some very immature people on this site...anyone who can condone someone dying in vain is someone I would rather not be associated with...so hey do us a favor disagreers, why don't you come post who you are so we can ignore you? Or will you not because your a worthless human being hiding behind your mouse?

[MyNutsYourChin]

Seriously, whoever disagreed has some severe compassion issues. This is tragic and should not be treated like a joke. It's very difficult and perhaps impossible for most to understand what either child was going through.

It is not our place to judge or speculate on what went on, who's to blame, what the punishment should be, or make absurd and heartless comments about the situation. Events like this are a serious reminder to us all that life is precious and fragile. My heart and my love goes out to the family of this unfortunate and sorrow filled event.

[Lyberator]

Some people on this site just can't get over their ignorant fanboy rants long enough to read what other people write.
My condolences go to the family as well. It's terrible to hear about something like this happening.

[MADGameR]

We all play violent video games. Prayers won't work at all if you don't have faith in the holy creator!

[TrenchaunT]

What in the WORLD are you talking about, MADGameR?

I have to say, Bloodmask, that you're very right to pledge prayers. I don't mean to offend anyone that isn't religious, but my point only is that in such a baffling situation prayer is the best thing we can do. We see in this the horror of what a human being is capable of. We can't really point fingers at anyone but the kid. Maybe that kid isn't a monster--maybe it was just such bitter rage, maybe insanity, but now, regardless, he's guilty and going to pay for it the rest of his life--both with prison and with bitter guilt.

We can do so much to prevent such crimes, with education, counseling, etc., but in the end the unstoppable enemy is the tendency toward hatred in the human heart.

This really is "tragic" in the Greek sense. The kid is both guilty and flawed. And there's a bitter, painful irony that the mother, although she would want the culprit who killed her son punished, that means her own son must bear the punishment. There isn't some third party she can blame and despise forever--her resentment will always be offset by motherly love. She'll have to endure a torture perhaps worse than if both her children had been murdered by someone else. May God ease her suffering.

[The Swordsman]

No parent should have to bury their children, but yet it happens all the time. My own maternal grandmother has buried three of her children(one of whom was eight when he died). Terrible. And as as the poster above me said, we cannot stop hatred, no matter how much we try.

[Hayabusa 117]

How do you know Bloodmask doesn't believe in God, or has any other faith?

This is indeed terrible. My sympathy - and prayers - goes out to the parents.

[ALI G]

@1.5.MADGameR :if you woundering who took ur seconed bubble it is me, becuse you are such a prick and immature even in this type of situation

[ben hates you]

i think this site would benefit with the ability to see who disagrees

[ANoobsJourney]

I would also like to send my condolences to the family of this terrible tragedy. Is there ever going to be a time when this world ends all of the violence?

[Umbrella Corp]

i want to know who the heartless monsters are that are disagreeing,can you the pain of loosing a brother or son and finding out your ther child or sibling killed.do you know that pain?if your disagreeing you heartless [email protected] prayers go out to the family.

[pwnsause]

this is bad...

[supnub5]

his brother should be in pshycho center, because killing from whose turn it was is just plain dumb.

[Cupid-Stunt]

jesus christ!!!!

[MoonDust]

For both, video games and that kids family. Jack Thompson is going to jump on this.

[Violater]

The PARENTS are to be blamed.
For not raising their stupid ass kids properly.
That could have happened over any dispute, its "unfortunate" that video games were involved.
Edit: don't get me wrong it's really sad this has happend, but how can things like this be prevented??
Think about it growing up how many disputes have you had, at 13 years old thats hardly considered a child these days.
Parents need to be more involved with raising their kids.

[XxZxX]

I think any mom will teach their kids not to stab each other. I dont think it's their parent fault. If anything is that kid.

[dantesparda]

I agree with X Y X
How about blaming the guy who's fault it is, the stupid @ss mofo who killed his brother over this.

[MyNutsYourChin]

While I see the direction you would like to go with this, I think you are passing judgment too soon. It's one thing to say that this is a tragedy and objectively ask oneself, where were the parents but it's another thing to outright blame them without knowing the facts.

I suggest all of us refrain from speculation and judgment until the facts are clear and public, and even then passing judgment is a similar action to condemning someone for their faults.

An act of condemnation by passing judgment is very close to the vengeful nature of this ordeal. In effect, one would be emotionally aligning oneself to the same alignment this poor child had as he grew incredibly frustrated and angered towards his brother before committing the aforementioned act of violence.

[Monty_The_Great]

funny how some of you think that the parents aren't to blame. You think the parents should of taught there kids not to stab another person, but I want all of you to think if any of your parents told you that? Of course they didn't, because if your parent is half of a parent at all, they would of taught you the difference between right and wrong.

[The Swordsman]

We can never be sure what it was that made that boy commit this crime. Perhaps it was just nature, that he was just... complicated, or perhaps it was indeed the fault of the parents. Nature or nurture, we can't say, and with nobody here(probably) knowing the family and the accused, I don't think that we have the right to be passing judgement.

[bung tickler]

Maybe if the woman wasnt such a s!tty parent, like most parents here in the US, this wouldn't have happened. When will people learn it isn't TV, Movies, or Games that cause this sh!t it's fvcking horrible parenting. If you are a good parent this won't happen. I mean if you know your kids fight over games then don't let them play at all or watch them when they do, problem solved. DEAD KID = SH!TTY PARENTS 99% of the time.

honestly I have very little sympathy for things like this there is much more death going on elsewhere in the world that we should all be more concerned with.

[Covenant]

No one tell Jack Thompson. That would be gasoline on a bonfire.

[Salvadore]

Yeah, if Jack Thompson founds out about this, he will try to turn the tables around and say that video games caused the accident.

BTW: Feel sorry for this family.

[XxZxX]

this is really bad. Sympathy to the mother who just lost two kids.
One is wasted and other is a waste. I hope the family will recover from this.

Take 2 is not going to like this news.

[Violater]

where were the parents?
Too many parents leave their kids to raise themselves in this society.
The way I grew up they would have caught an a$$ whooping from the first time they fought over something.
This surely wasn't the first time they fought like that.
Train a child in the way he should grow....
I'm telling you a good a$$ whooping for the right reasons never hurt anyone.

Edit @XxZxX, it's the fear of that a$$ whooping that kept me inline.
It's the knowledge of whats right vs whats wrong.

If there was some mental issue with this child then fine. But i see children lately out of control throwing tantrums totally out of control, we need to stop making excuses as a society and deal with the issues.

[XxZxX]

huh? Your parents have to watch over you 24/7 just to prevent this from happening? No. Don't tell me you never get this "Parents not around" situation. Parents teach you, guide you but they're not angel. They can't 24/7 looking after you. They can caught an ass whooping 99% but just that one time they miss, someone go berserk and tradegy and you blame the parents.

[Robotz Rule]

You my friend deserve a +bubble+.

Very sad story :,(

[Auron]

omg how idiotic can you Fn get!? taking someones life from them over a video game?!

[killercam19]

blame the parents for everything he was just a bad child they should not fight for him to come out of prison and if he does get out they should throw him away and pretend that he was never their child

[supnub5]

nuff said.

[Eagle Eye]

I have just recently had the misfortune of reading of a similar incident.
It saddens me to read this kind of news. I would also like to offer my condolences to the family as well.

[Groo]

What if its a Single mom working 2 jobs raising 2 sons on her own? Not that easy to be up the kids butts 24/7. This is very sad. Glad my little brother just cracked a bat over my head and never picked up a steak knife.. Police say they might have been arguing over a video game, for christ sake, brothers argue over everything. You start out hating each other, don't have a dad around to restore order and moms always at work. It very tragic this turned out the way it did, my prayers are with them.

[Devilbringer]

Feel bad for the mother :/ i really hate when this kind of news comes out. family members killing eachother,, it cant get any worse :/

[N4GayFanturds]

In the 90's, I was an Arcade Attendent (college years). I've seen numerous times people yelling, cussing and smashing the game because either they lost to the game or to another player.

And I'm sure many can relate to having the phone ring or some other distraction which sets us back somehow in the game. Unfortunately, there are those that don't know how to control their rage.

I pity the mother. The boy may likely be tried as a juvenile but will always have to live the rest of his life; brother-less.

EDIT: And to think; some people use video games as a way for their kids to stay out of trouble. In this case, it destroyed a family.

Shame.

[Devilbringer]

The little brother or Now just Brother. must live the rest of his life knowing he killed hes own brother just cause of some brotherly arguing

[Asylumchild]

those 13 year olds really want to play that Wii.... wow Nintendo you see what you caused with your family friendly console... tisk tisk

[Mr VideoGames]

don't know what to say but i hope for the Best for that Family, i think all of us including Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo FanBoyz should stop and think what we are really doing here

[killercam19]

To VideoGames4Life i dont need to stop and think about nething cus i'm not a jacka*s

[progx]

I hope that little f@g gets the chair.

[Blankman]

f the fact that this kid got angry and stabbed his bro. f the fact that video games were involved. What i wanna know is why they decided to trial him as an adult. Thats simply escalating a tragedyl. The mom lost 1 son now your gonna give the other one life at 13??. Tis a sad world we live in

[Tsukasah]

"I don't believe the actual game itself was the cause of it. I don't believe they were acting out in any way or mimicking anything in a video game. I believe it was actual use of the game and whose turn it was," said Lansdowne Police Chief Daniel Kortan. -Good Man

My sympathy to the family that has to go through with this, its sad how things like this happen, i can only imagine being that 13 year old kid who stabbed his brother to death.. a truly sad tragedy. Agian, my sympathy to the family.

[kendownunder]

The brothers fighting over video games is completely beside the point. They could have been fighting over who drank the last of the orange juice or whose turn it was to mow the lawn. The tragedy is that they didn't have the judgement to put their petty squabbles into perspective, and that they didn't learn the value of self control. It's devestating for the family, but the video game aspect is completely incidental to the real cause of this unfortunate tragedy.

[Douglasp]

My prayers goes out to the family especially the mom who lost 1 son and will loose the other for a long time. No one knows what kind of trauma this will have to her or father, or the brother who is still alive. This has surely ruined a familys life. If this anger and or rage is expressed by children playing and taking turns I can already imagine the anger some of you have cause of a so and so console etc etc. This should go out to all of us as a lesson and stop hating on one another. We are all in it for the ejoyment of video games, not the anger of a so and so company.

[PS360PCROCKS]

wow...how does a 6 year old even get a steak knife?

[kendownunder]

It was a 13yo that stabbed a 16yo.

[TheExecutive]

well, obviously the kid had some mental problems... its not necessarily the parents fault, who knows what problems this kid has, but apparently they were many. What was the family dynamic like? how did this family settle disputes? there are so many factors that go into sh!t like this that just blaming the parents or the child is most likely very inappropriate and very very misleading. It is never that simple, EVER.

this is really sad. its too bad the kid didnt get help before he boiled over. maybe if he did he wouldnt have ruined his life, taken his brothers and ruined his parents life...

[darkvenom]

condolences go out to the family this is something that should've never happened.

[DeadIIIRed]

For the little brother as well though. I mean, its not like he was smiling and laughing about it. According to the news he was crying and screaming. Now he has to live with the fact that he killed his own brother over something so stupid.

[ShAkKa]

danm! things like this happens more than we know,parents should pay more attentions to their teenage children.

[Daewoodrow]

Almost every parent teaches their children that they shouldn't do these things, however very few teach their children not to want to. Therin lays the problem.
It always pains me to see life going to waste over such trivial matters.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Tear!

[neil1988]

the christian politics are going to go crazy over this. they wont win of cores but it will give then somthing to bi@#^*( about .

[neil1988]

this stuff happends all the time its just since this one time out of all the reast videogames were involed that why there talking about it if videogames were not invloved they would harduly talked about it

[neil1988]

but dont talke about it alot if you do then more attenchion will come to it
that just my opinion .

[Savior X]

This truly is horrible horrible news. Like many others said this could of happened over anything other than video games. My thought is who's to say they weren't playing madden????

[TheExecutive]

i definitely agree... if it wasnt a video game it may have been a turn at batting practice, something is wrong with this kid and too bad it wasnt caught earlier. Having degrees in psychology i can tell you that the situation that this child was in was absolutely incidental. However, the mindset the child was in wasnt... Firing squads, even good parenting doesnt seem like an answer here... there is something seriously wrong with a 13 yr old that stabs a brother to death over a video game. I think we can all agree on that. I also think we can agree that there is much more than meets the eye in this case. Biological, social, and familial factors had to do with this.

Imagine the best soup you have ever had... imagine all the right ingredients, the amount of those ingredients, and the temperature its cooked at; all of these are important in how the soup turns out.

now imagine the child as a mixtture of biological, social and familial factors all stewing into this one person... there are literally billions of combinations in a single existence... to limit blame to one person (parents) or one instance (video games) is useless politics... those who are in the know look to ways to stop the next instance not improve their public standing. They are called psychologists.

[360Jamaican40GigFL]

that sick bastard should get the firing squad

[Daxx]

WTF! Is it just me or more and more kids becoming homicidal maniacs. That kid must of been chemically imbalanced or something. But I just don't understand how someone that age would kill their older brother just because of a dispute over a video game. Well sucks to be him because he's going to end up getting f*cked up the ass or f#cking someone up the ass for the rest of his adult life.

Remember kids, murder baaad.

[360Jamaican40GigFL]

DAX WROTE " OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!
WTF! Is it just me or more and more kids becoming homicidal maniacs. That kid must of been chemically imbalanced or something. But I just don't understand how someone that age would kill their older brother just because of a dispute over a video game. Well sucks to be him because he's going to end up getting f*cked up the ass or f#cking someone up the ass for the rest of his adult life.

Remember kids, murder baaad."

u have got to be the coolest and most straight to the point person on this site

[Daxx]

Why thank you, +bubble for you.

[Rock Bottom]

I bit they were fighting over a Wii.

[ShutButton]

My honor goes to that family. :(

[progx]

You don't stab your f*ckin brother without something being seriously wrong with you. They didn't see this because they're crappy parents, and now they pay the price. I fight with my brother all the time, but I use whats called a fist, not a goddamn steak knife.

[RyuCloudStrife]

These are the times we live in. People are too ignorant and dont even think that their actions have consequences now this 13yr old is going to be in jail for a long time over something so stupid. My advice think before you act.

[TheExecutive]

We always tend to pass judgement too quickly... "these are the times we live in", "its the parents fault", "retarded kid".... now i know my kids wouldnt do this sh!t ever, i know that i wouldnt do that ever... so why then do i not pass judgement? because judgement is for the ignorant and arrogant, im with killzone128... my honor goes to them.

[btkadams]

thats so sad

[The BS Police]

It's tragic when something like this happens.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

I just don't understand maybe I'm not ment to but I never fought my brothers over video games. Don't get me wrong we fight or argue but thats over other stupid sh!t (sibling rivalry) but video games never in a million years. I don't know what it's like in other countrys but here in the US there is a trend, not a big trend a small one and in certin parts of the country more than others, where parents let the TV watch their children while they go do what ever the hell they do. LAZY is what I call it.

[AngryTypingGuy]

Sometimes parents do all that they can, and their children snap anyway. Then again, it sounds like the child may have been very spoiled, but we'll never know. What we do know is that it's not video games that made the child kill his brother. It was the sons own insanity.

Look at Chris Benoit for example. I'm sure his parents were very loving and encouraged him to follow his dreams. Years later, he murders his wife and kills his son with a hold similar to the Crippler Crossface. Or to cite a more extreme example, look at Hitler. Hitler was given love as a child (as far as I know). He painted and played the piano. He then went on to become what many people would describe as the Anti-Christ. It wasn't necessarily his parents' fault. It definitely wasn't videogames.

We've all had times where we thought about someone else, "dammit, I wish I could snap his/her neck right now". The difference is, sane people don't act on it. There is a fine line between sanity and insanity. Sometimes, people just snap.

[Imalwaysright]

I think that the Kid was constantly being bullied by is older brother and he simply lost it on what happened to be a dispute over a videogame.

For me this is sad but i believe that Jack Thompson is jumping around with joy wherever he is right now.

[WilliamRLBaker]

because if the family hadn't been hopelessly psycho to begin with it would not have happend, you should only receive remorse when something happens that shouldn't. obviously if a kid stabs another over a videogame then the family wasn't right and reeped what they sowed so deserve no remorse....the following is opinion....brought to you on a Wii.

[sak500]

I beg to differ. Anyone loosing their loved one is a sad thing, however screwed up the family may be. I remember getting beaten up by my older brother when we used to be kids. Since he was older and stronger so i was most of the time pinned under him and getting my face smaked. In my desperation i'd even picked up stuff and threw at him. But never ever thought about using anything dangerous to hurt him. I guess its your own mental capabilities and upbringing. Although i started playing video games way back in 80s. These kids might have been subject to either watching too much violence on tv or facing it at home you never know. But kids dont usually stab their siblings over anything even if they play violent games.

[Dukester101]

not entirely true william... that kid was probably f'd up, but that doesnt mean that his family is.

the fact that he would do that is outrageous, and wrong... which shows he is clearly not stable, and not fit to be in a normal situation. sure his family may have something to do with it, but dont you think he had issues to begin with??

anyway, it's a tragedy, and like so many have said- no parent should ever have to bury their child

[iballa]

oh well, one less mouth to feed

[Nigther]

I don't see why this needs to be news here and why everyone has to say how sorry they are. People die tragic deaths ALL the time, yes it's true! But do you write messages about all those, well I praise you if you do but it's highly unlikely.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that everyone in this family feels bad and I would never want that to happen to anyone. But the fact remains, this isn't video games related(that the dispute was about a game most likely doesn't matter, games don't make people killers!) and therefore doesn't belong here.

I choose to speak my mind here and I'm ready to loose all my bubbles for it. Thanks.

[Hayabusa 117]

Some deaths seem to get more publicity than others unfortunately.

[milthaar]

fvcking white people

[Vojkan]

WHY ARE WHITE CHILDREN ON THAT PICTURE WHEN THIS CLEARLY HAPPENED IN BLACK FAMILY? I think that is racist, remove that picture with kids S.A.P!

[solidt12]

Jack Thompson can't blame violent video games. This was clearly a case of a kid with issues. My prayers and sentiments go out to the family and I hope the young guy can get some help and still live a normal life one day.

[Hectic_Kris]

lol get a grip
such a sad thing no parent should evr e vr bury there child so tragick

[Groo]

go fight your pitbulls or something, you got a point though, not too many black people buy there consoles, they steal them racist bastard

[M1am1U]

is going on? This is a completely terrible situation, and I feel horrible for the family. I have to wonder though, what has happened to our world where kids are killing their brothers over a video game? Very tragic.

[Ravenator529]

There was obviously a problem with this kid to begin with.

I'll admit, me and my brothers used to fight over who gets to play next but never did that escalate into something even close to this.

I'm sure we will be seeing good o'l Jack Thompson very very soon!

[UJUSTLOSTONE]

The issue here is anger not race,

And No matter what color you are, anger affects us all. Obviously the child struck out in anger, and the results are truly sobering.

Now it would be remiss, of us to think that everything is A OK in that houshold, after all, there are problems in each of our households that others may frown upon. No one is perfect. It is really sad when those imperfections escalate to a point that results in the loss of a life.

My heart goes out to the Mom, who will undoubtedly blame herself, for her own misdeeds. My heart definitely goes out to the brother who must live for the rest of his life, with the tragic decisions he has made.

I know that I get pissed during gameplay, downright furious sometimes. But it is imperative that we find positive ways, (i.e. not physically harming another)To channel our Negativity and try our best to pass it down to the younger ones.

Not saying that this wouldn't have happend anyway,the classic argument is Nature vs Nurture.But we have to try our best to safeguard our youth.

Food for thought

Peace

[vettle1]

you know when a site is bad, when people find stuff to argue about in the comments section of a story like this. this is sad, my condolences to the family.

[SuperSaiyan4]

Yep blame the games again...

[felidae]

such things shouldn't happen.

it's a sad thing.

[Kratosnake]

.. but man, this is horrifying. Imagine dying because of a stupid game. It sucks sucks sucks. And i'm very sorry for the parents who had to deal with it.

[s1lv3rw0lf]

My prayers go out to the parents and their son who they've lost, including the one who killed his brother. He probably has some type of anger problem that none of us knows about, and snapped at his brother for what happened [or if it was actually over whose turn was it to play]. No one shouldn't judge the kid because as I said, he probably has some anger issue or even mentally handicapped in some way.

[Groo]

And don't forget, Older brothers are prone to beat the crap out of there little brothers and egg them on. I am not at all condoning what the younger one did, there is no excuse, little brother just snapped and it wasn't something just out of the blue. The younger one realized what he had done too, its not like he is a cold blooded kid and doesn't feel any remorse at all. He will always torture himself for the rest of his life for what he has done to his brother regardless what authorities do to him.. I fell horrible for these people, probably cause I have 4 brothers

[PS360PCROCKS]

your absolutely correct about the brother thing I made my little brother mad once and he threw a fork at me and it went in my head, so lol...

[kornbeaner]

All I can say is WTF. Tragedies like this always happen for the same F*cking reason. No parental control, while I don't think a videogame should ever be the cause of a stabbing there were signs prior to this that the bothership might've been a little harsh. It happens in all family situations Big brother picks on little brother and it goes on until they grow out of it. But it's the parents job to keep everything in a balance. As I can only imagine they did nothing about the constant picking that went on taking "their suppose to act that way, their brothers" approach. I've seen brothers and even sisters get physical over material things because the parents don't do anything until its to late. They wait for the bloody lips and noses to do anything and then it has nothing to do with the actual problem itself it has more to do with them been angry cause they have to deal with it.

This is hard to hear for anybody gamer or not. You just have to be human to grasp the severity of this tragedy. Unfortunately were coming to the point in the worlds history were we as humans are self destructing and acting in horrid ways toward our own family and fellow man. Only we can stop most of it from going on, but I don't see the majority of it stopping since most like to do something after the fact.
Unfortunately for this family there will be no second chance and my prayer goes out the 16 year old and 13 years old who are caught in a situation they never should've been in. This is truly a sad day to take. Brother kills Brother over something as stupid as videogame, SAD!. I hope something is done to help this child forget what he has done, cause having the memory of killing your big brother is gonna be worse then any jail this boy can go to. God bless.

[Lowtax]

People apparently can't offer their condolences but instead still argue. I don't even feel like saying anything.

[teh CoMMish]

Got a couple of kids? Don't expect them to share. I used to fight with my brothers all the time over who's turn it was. Solution: buy your kids their own system. Doesn't have to be the same system either, you can get a Wii and a DS for example. One can play DS while the other plays Wii.

Motto, every house should have at least 2 game systems.

And my condolences to the family. Losing a son is an unexplainable emotion that I hope to never experience in my lifetime.

[sumfood4u]

Prayers go out to the mother in her troubling times. She has a long way to go from now til she leaves this planet. Amen!

[FA-SHO]

Its always sad when someone near and dear to you dies espesially when someone else near to you is the cause. to the family you are in my prayers.

[f1r3waII K1LL3r]

However the repercussions of this could be massive for gamers and gaming in general, however I hope that everybody sees this as violence, i mean think about it, people have killed over drugs, over other people, so Its not the video game that we blame its the children and their choices that they made, it was their decision, and it wasn't determined for them by a videogame.

[Dogswithguns]

Sad

[ReBurn]

Essentially that family lost two children over this. How very terrible.

[M_Prime]

thats kinda bad.. but it could be the same story over anything that involves players.. like football or basketball.. 1 person gets mad and stabs.. it happens..

i wonder what they were playing.. please let it be TOMAGOTCHI PARTY ON.. that game needs to be banned!