10 Year Old Hangs Self After Watching Hussein Execution

[Cpl Kendall]

CBC.CA

HOUSTON (AP) - A 10-year-old boy was apparently mimicking Saddam Hussein's execution when he hanged himself from a bunk bed, police and family members said.

Sergio Pelico was found dead Sunday in his apartment bedroom after watching a news report on the execution of the former Iraqi leader, said Webster Police Lt. Tom Claunch.

"Our gut reaction is that he was experimenting," Claunch said after officials spoke with family members. An autopsy of the fifth-grader's body was pending.

Julio Gustavo, Sergio's uncle, described the boy as happy and curious. He said Sergio had watched TV news with another uncle on Saturday and asked the uncle about Saddam's death.

"His uncle told him it was because Saddam was real bad," Gustavo said. "He (Sergio) said, 'OK,' and that was it."

"I don't think he thought it was real," Gustavo said. "They showed them putting the noose around (Saddam's) neck and everything. Why show that on TV?"


Sergio's mother, Sara Pelico DeLeon, was at work Sunday and her children were being watched by a relative when one of them found Sergio's body, Gustavo said.

Police said the boy had tied a slipknot around his neck while on a bunk bed. Sergio had been upset about not getting a Christmas gift from his father, police said, but they don't believe he intentionally killed himself. Gustavo said the boy's father lives in New Jersey.

Family members held a memorial for the boy Wednesday in the apartment complex activity centre. Gustavo said the family is trying to raise enough money to send Sergio's body to Guatemala for burial.

This is so fucked up I don't know what to say about it.

[Rukia]

wow.. just.. wow

[Mayabird]

1) The media will never report that the person who went on a random killing spree was a scumbag - they were always "a church-going family man, according to neighbors and coworkers."
2) The media will never report that a kid was an idiot - all kids are smart, happy, etc. according to their families.

At age ten, I damn well knew what death was and that doing stupid things like that would make me dead. Death was not something to play at. A four year old I could almost understand, because most four year olds don't have a firm grasp of reality. At ten, the kid was just an idiot. That's it. He was just a stupid kid.

[Cpl Kendall]

1) The media will never report that the person who went on a random killing spree was a scumbag - they were always "a church-going family man, according to neighbors and coworkers."
2) The media will never report that a kid was an idiot - all kids are smart, happy, etc. according to their families.

At age ten, I damn well knew what death was and that doing stupid things like that would make me dead. Death was not something to play at. A four year old I could almost understand, because most four year olds don't have a firm grasp of reality. At ten, the kid was just an idiot. That's it. He was just a stupid kid.

Agreed, we caught our five year old wrapping some string around his throat the other day, we stopped him and told him why he couldn't do that. Problem solved. But at ten you should already have a grasp of rope around neck=death.

[The Cleric]

Lawlz. Good for him, remove himself from possibly breeding and creating more r-tards like himself.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Lawlz. Good for him, remove himself from possibly breeding and creating more r-tards like himself.

Agreed. Natural Fucking Selection.

My same stand on any Darwin Award candidate. Good riddance. It is kinda sad that it was a ten year old, but they are no exception.

[Mayabird]

Technically, he's not old enough to get a Darwin Award. According to their rules:

The candidate must be capable of sound judgment.

Humans are generally capable of sound judgment, except those with mental handicaps that render them unable to fully comprehend the ramifications of their actions.

A vociferous majority argues that children also fit into this category, citing the vast gulf between ignorance and stupidity. An equally clamorous minority contends that children are the best candidates for a rusty chromosome award, since they obviously have not reproduced. Some children have stated that restricting children from vying for this laudable award is yet another encroachment on their civil liberties.

I appreciate that parents are responsible for raising their offspring and teaching them to make responsible decisions. Therefore children under sixteen are not eligible to win a Darwin Award. However, a few have been included as nominees, when their actions can be considered foolhardy by even their young peers.

I'm now trying to figure out how very, very much a parent would have to fail at parenting for their kids to be stupid enough to hang himself, even if the kid wasn't an idiot. Even so, if it was really that, then we should've seen thousands of kids doing it since there are many, many terrible parents out there. You'd have to intentionally try to screw up a kid that badly and keep away outside influences so something on TV or some kids at school don't counteract it.

[Stofsk]

I get the feeling that there may be more going on here than meets the eye.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Well, we have a few options here.

1) The kid really is that stupid
2) The kid was suffering from a mental illness, and clinical depression is unlikely at 10
3) his parents killed him and made it look like a suicide.
4)tied in with all of the above is that the parents failed him COMPLETELY while raising him

I say that last one for several reasons.

If #1 is true, they did not teach him how to properly maintain his own bodily functions and avoid killing himself

If #2 is true, they did not recognize the warning signs. Now, a teenager slipping through the cracks I can understand. They have angst and sometimes it can be hard to differentiate between angst and clinical depression. But a ten year old? No excuse.

#3 obvious