In a story with a familiar theme, a tragedy in Brooklyn was blamed on a video game. According to the New York Daily News, a nine-year-old boy leaped to his death from the roof of his apartment building, and his friend blamed video game WWE Smackdown vs Raw. Damori Miles was found dead in front of his home, a plastic-bag "parachute" next to him.
According to the boy's friend Shakar Murrel, "He tried to do a swan dive like Jeff Harding (sic) does in Smackdown. That was his favorite game. He played it all the time," Shakar said. "That was what he was trying to do. If I would have seen him up there, I would have told him not to do it."
A neighbor, Chiquita Jones, had another take on the tragedy. "The door to the roof should have been locked. Damori didn't have to die."
While the untimely death of a child is horrible, it's very strange that the New York Daily News is focusing its coverage on the video game "connection." The only real bridge between the game and Miles' death is a theory advanced by the dead child's friend Shakar, who is 11 years old.
The Daily News' headline reads "9-year-old Damori Miles dies in jump off Brooklyn apartment, may have been imitating video game." I guess "9-year-old Damori Miles dies in jump off Brooklyn apartment, unlocked roof door to blame." wouldn't have been as exciting.
And, by the way, New York Daily News, the game is called WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2009, and not "Smackdown Raw" as you have labeled it. The wrestler's name is "Jeff Hardy," not "Jeff Harding" and his signature move is the "Swanton Bomb" and not the "Swan Dive." The move has nothing to do with parachutes and isn't performed off the roof of apartment buildings in the game.
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