Dedication

For all of these, this organization and website is dedicated:

  • To the first addicted gamer that I knew, my son, Shawn, may he rest in peace.

And for the loss of these physical lives, may they REST IN PEACE:

  • Dr. Laura A. Canis, Founder of Everquest Widows. 2006
  • Dr. Kimberly Young O'Mara, the pioneer researcher to first identify internet addiction as a psychological condition in 1995. 2019

Deaths from exhaustion and own neglect

  • Brian Vigneault, 35, exhaustion, Virginia Beach, VA. 2017
  • Liang Weiming, 67 yrs. Heart attack after catching rarest Pokemon Go creature. Hong Kong. July 2016
  • Hsieh, 32 yrs., dies after 3-day non-stop marathon, Taiwan 2015
  • Chen Jungyu 23 yrs. dies after 10 hours of gaming through the night. New Taipei City, China 2012
  • Chris Staniforth, 20, who played his console for up to 12 hours 2-3 times a week, died in May from deep vein thrombosis (DVT) UK 2011
  • 26-year-old man from Jinzhou, An obese man died after a "marathon" online gaming session. He collapsed on Saturday, the last day of the holiday, after spending "almost all" of the seven-day break playing online games, the China Daily said, citing his parents.Northeastern China 2007
  • A Chinese newspaper says a 30-year-old man apparently died of exhaustion after a three-day gaming binge. The Beijing News says he collapsed at a cybercafe in southern China after playing games online for three days. Paramedics couldn't revive him. The newspaper didn't say what he was playing. It says about 100 other Web surfers "left the cafe in fear after witnessing the man's death."
  • Lee Seung Seop, 28 yrs. developing an addiction to Blizzard's StarCraftSeop quit his job. He holed up in an Internet cafe and began a 50 hour session that would prove fatal. After suffering from exhaustion and dehydration Seop collapsed from heart failure around the 40 hour mark. South Korea, 2005
  • "Snowly",A young girl died last month after playing the online game "World of Warcraft" for several continuous days during the national day holiday. Snowly's friends, who share the same game community, say that Snowly was a very diligent member and a key official of their community, who was always connected to the Internet.  Several days before Snowly's death, the girl was said to be preparing for a relatively difficult part of the game and had very little rest. She told her friends that she felt very tired. 2005
  • Death of another game enthusiast nicknamed "Nan Ren Gu Shi". 2005.
  • The latest casualty collapsed August 5 in the southern city of Daegu after having eaten minimally and not sleeping.  Doctors said they presumed he died of heart failure. So obsessed by gaming was the man that he was reported to have lost his office worker job due to absenteeism.2005.
  •  A man died after 86 hours of marathon gaming. Kwangju, 2002
  •  Jeff Dailey and Peter Burkowski both pushed the limits of gamer endurance by reaching the high-score of 16,660 points of game Berzerk. They both dropped dead in the arcade immediately after entering their names in the high-score spots. Early 1980’s

Deaths from parental neglect:

  • Sarang, 3 months starved to death Suwon, South Korea, 2010
  • Benjamin Sargent, 5 months, Ill. 2008
  • Harmony Jade Creech, 11 months, 2007
  • Alayiah Turman, 17 months, 2006
  • Drew and Bryn Kleinmark, 10 months old, The twins father, Gregg J. Kleinmark, 24, pleaded guilty to two counts of involuntary manslaughter to the drowning-deaths of his twins. Gregg Kleinmark, left his sons unattended in a bathtub for 30 minutes while he played a "computer game” three rooms away. Fostoria, Ohio 2005
  • Couple let 4 children under 8, starve, to play video games. Montrose, August 2005
  • Daughter of Yu, age 4 months, Yu, 29 years old, and his wife put their daughter in the bedroom of their home and went to a neighborhood PC cafe at around 4:00 p.m. to play the online game "World of Warcraft.  Time flew by as the couple lost themselves in the game. When they returned home at 9:00 p.m., their daughter was lying on her stomach, dead of suffication.
  • Police said, "The tragedy could have been averted if the couple had just left their daughter with Yu's mother-in-law, who lived upstairs from them... We booked the pair on criminal charges, judging that when you consider the situation, they were responsible for their daughter's death."Incheon May 2005
  • Brianna Cordell, 3 years, died in hot car while mother played video games, Springdale, Washington 8/8/03
  • Tony Bragg Jr., 9 months, As his 9-month-old son cried last July, Tony Lamont Bragg Sr.'s, age 24, 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. St. Petersburg, Florida 7/12/02

Suicides:

  • Hsueh Jun-Chen, 22 yrs. Burnt himself to death. Taiwan 2015
  • Brandon Crisp, 15 yrs, 2008
  • Richard Rimmer, 23 yrs
  • Brian Byrd, 2004, 37 yrs
  • Patrick Semmes, 22 yrs
  • Mitchell Lee "Mitch" Steukerjuergen, 21 yrs committed suicide after talking about it on an internet gaming forum where other players tried in vain to dissuade him.
  • The young man shared online that he had family problems and financial difficulties and was thinking about committing suicide.  He wrote that he was swallowing pills and antifreeze. For hours "Mitchell S", shared with other users what he was feeling, then started sending illegible messages and quit the forum. January 2006
  • Xiao Yi, 13, The suicide of a young Chinese boy has highlighted once more the growing dangers of game addiction, when those responsible don't understand or notice the risks of unhealthy play. Xiao Yi threw himself from the top of a twenty-four story tower block in his home town, leaving notes that spoke of his addiction and his hope of being reunited with fellow cyber-players in heaven. The suicide notes were written through the eyes of a gaming character, and stated that he hoped to meet three gaming friends in the after life. His parents, who had noticed with growing concern his affliction, were not mentioned in the letters. "My kid was like someone taking drugs who could not control himself," said Xiao Yi's father.Tianjin,China, 2005
  • James Atwood, 19 yrs
  • Shawn Woolley, 21 yrs., 2001

Murders:

  • Dijonae White, 14 yrs, murdered by 9 yrs. brother Mississippi, March 2018
  • Lydia Nicholson, 68 murdered by 28 yr. old son, Ceres, California January 2018 
  • Andrew Finch, 28, murdered after a swatting hoax by a gamer December 2017
  • Jeffrey Osborne, 47 murdered by son, 14 yr. old Jesse Osborne, South Carolina September 2016
  • Jacob Hall 6 yrs, murdered by 14 yr. old Jesse Osborne, South Carolina September 2016
  • Breck Bednar, 14 yrs. Murdered by gamer Lewis Daynes, Grays Essex, UK  2014
  • Daniel Zeitz, 28 yrs., shot and killed by 16 year old girl, to steal his PS4 video game, Roswell, Ga. 2014
  • Daymeon Wygant, 16 months, murdered by gamer father, Cody Wygant, 24 years old Homosassa, Florida 2014
  • Brett King, 3 months, murdered by gamer father Kevin Wayne King, Saratoga, NY August 2013
  • Khan Frazier 2 weeks, murdered by gamer father, 20 year old Brian Jack Frazier, High Point, NC 2013
  • 13-year-old slashes pal's throat after falling out over violent video game Gears of War 3 Scotland 2013
  • Gretchen Crooks 37 years old, murdered by son 14 year old Noah Crooks, admitted he tried to rape and then shot dead his mom 'for taking away his Call of Duty video game' UK May 2013
  • Monica Gooden 23 yrs. beaten to death by her 22 year old boyfriend Darrius Johnson with an Xbox console. Florida April 2013.
  • Marie Smothers, 90 yrs. murdered by 8 yr. old boy, Louisiana 2013
  • Mother, father and 3 younger siblings killed by avid gamer son, 15 year-old Nehemiah Griego, New Mexico, January 2013
  • 3 daughters – 11 yrs. Amara, 8 yrs. Sophie, and 5 yrs. Cecilia  all murdered by father, Aaron Schaffhausen, who was obsessed with video games. River Falls, WI July 2012
  • Colton, 3 weeks, murdered by his father Jacob Hartley, for disturbing him, while gaming. Lakeland, Fl. 2012
  • Father shot and killed by 4 year old son for refusing to buy him video game, Saudi Arabia 2012 
  • Dylan Edmondson, 3 months, murdered by Farmville gamer mother, Jacksonville, Florida October, 2010
  • Marissa, 3 months, murdered by gamer father, Jason Gallaway, Seaford, Delaware December 2010
  • Caden, 6 months killed by gamer by father by shaking and punching him to death, 41 year old Jeff Sollman, Decatur, Iowa March 2009
  • Darisabel Baez, 2 years, beaten do death by mother’s boyfriend. York, PA April 2008 
  • Polwat Chinno, 19 yrs, told authorities last week he had brutally killed a Bangkok taxi driver to copy a crime depicted in the game of Grand Theft Auto IV. Thailand, 2008
  • Susan Petric 43 yrs, shot and killed by son 16 year old Daniel Petric of Elyria,Ohio so he could play video game Halo 3, Daniel also shot his father Mark, but he did not die. October 2007
  • Mai Thi Mau, 81 - Police say Dinh The Dan strangled Mai Thi Mau, 81, with a piece of rope and took 100,000 dong (6.2 dollars) from her before burying her in a pile of sand in front of his house on November 10, 2007. Dan confessed that he needed money to play online games and decided to kill and rob the woman," Duong said.
  • Alayiah, 17 months, murdered by gamer father Tyron Spellman, Philadelphia, PA 2006
  • Stefan Pakeerah, 14 yrs. England murdered by Warren Leblanc, 17 years old, repeatedly battered Stefan with a claw hammer and stabbing him to death after luring him to a local park. Stefan's parents said Leblanc had mimicked a game called Manhunt, in which the players score points for violent killings.  Stefan's father, Patrick, a civil servant, added: "The way Warren committed the murder this is how the game is set out, killing people using weapons like hammers and knives. "I don't play these games but if they are influencing kids to go out and kill people then you don't want them on the shelves." His mother Giselle claimed her son's "inherently evil" murderer was "obsessed" with the game and called for it to be banned. July 2004.
  • Zhu Caoyuan 26 yrs. stabbed to death by fellow gamer Qiu Chenqwei. Qiu had lent Zhu a virtual sword from the game Legend of Mir III and his homey sold it in an online auction house. When Qiu found out he tried to file a police report, the cops told him to, **** off because the sword didn't actually exist. China 2004
  • Randi Lee Trimble 28 yrs. Murdered by gamer husband. Camphill, PA 2003
  • Police Officer Arnold Strickland – shot and killed by 18 year old Devin Moore an avid player of Grand Theft Auto. After his capture, Moore is reported to have told police, "Life is like a video game. Everybody's got to die sometime." Mississippi 2003
  • Police Officer James Crump – shot and killed by 18 year old Devin Moore an avid player of Grand Theft Auto. After his capture, Moore is reported to have told police, "Life is like a video game. Everybody's got to die sometime." Mississippi 2003
  • Dispatcher Leslie Ace" Mealer – shot and killed by 18 year old Devin Moore an avid player of Grand Theft Auto. After his capture, Moore is reported to have told police, "Life is like a video game. Everybody's got to die sometime." Mississippi 2003

Mass Murders:

  • 17 people murdered by 19 year old Nikolas Cruz. Nikolas wasn’t expelled from school, but rather he was transferred to a school for students with behavioral issues. “Clearly the student had mental and behavioral issues and we have services we provide in schools when they don’t fit into a normal school environment,” he said. Gold said that Cruz escaped his misery by playing video games for eight, 12, even 15 hours a day. Gold, who owns a film and video production company, sometimes would play a game or two with them. “It was kill, kill, kill, blow up something, and kill some more, all day,” he said. Florida February 2018
  • 12 people murdered then he was snot and killed - violent video gamer, 34 year old Aaron Alexis Washington Navy Yard 2013
  • 20 children, 6 adults, his mother and himself all dead, murderer gamer Adam Lanza Connecticut December 2012
  • 77 people killed by 36 year old Andrea Behring Breivik who played and trained on violent video game WOW 7 hours a day for several months. Norway 2011
  • Seung Hui Cho killed 32 people, injured 17, then killed himself. Virginia Tech, April 2007
  • 7 students, a principle and himself, murdered by violent video-game addict Pekka-Eric, Tuusula, Finland November 2007
  • 13 staff members, 2 students, one police office and himself are now dead – murderer Robert Seinhauser, 19 years old trained for a year on games, Erfurt, Germany, April  2002 
  • April 20, 1999: Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17,opened fire at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before killing themselves in the school's library. Eric Harris was a devotee of Doom. He was an angry young man, full of hatred and contempt for many of those he knew. There is far less material pertaining to Klebold. The only game-related items contained among his papers are handwritten links to what appear to be file download sites for Doom and Quake add-ons.
  • 3 teens dead, 5 wounded, murdered by gamer 14 year-old Michael Carneal, Paducah, Ky December 1997

Mysterious Circumstances:

  • Shiva Kumar, 18 yrs, 2006

Others:

  • For all people who have died, that we don't know about, where the cause was gaming-related
  • For all who have died, that we do know about but are too many to list.  See:  Gaming Related Deaths
  • For failed marriages, broken families, neglected children, loss of friends, job loss, failing grades, lost college degrees, lost months and years of time, the real lives of our sons, daughters, spouses, friends, and last, but not least, for the loss of OUR OWN REAL lives into the games - emotional/spiritual/mental/emotional/sensual.