(no subject)
Lorenzo Diaz was an upbeat, well-liked student who proudly took on the role of big brother.
But the 11-year-old also had a fascination withanimation-based card games, particularly Yu-Gi-Oh! Family members say his interest in the game, which also can include dice, started about two years ago but turned obsessive in recent months.
Local Yu-Gi-Oh! enthusiasts say the game is harmless fun. But Lorenzo's mother says his involvement in the game led to his death.
On the evening of Nov. 10, Lorenzo was found dead at a North Hill park, hanging from a sagging, chain-link fence. A blue, cloth dog leash was wrapped around his neck, with the leash's metal clasp hooked to the fence.
Earlier, he had been playing with dice that came with a Yu-Gi-Oh! card deck. His mother, Rosita Jackson, thinks his death came down to a dice roll.
Lorenzo was baby-sitting his two younger brothers that evening. Their mother had gone to Salineville in Columbiana County to tend to a cancer-stricken aunt. Stepfather Marlo Jackson was returning home from a job in North Carolina.
"Lorenzo was a very mature, responsible 11-year-old,'' his mother said. He had helped me with his brothers before.... He was happy that he was helping. He was very proud of that.''
According to Akron police records, Lorenzo's brothers, 6 and 8, said he had gotten mad because Brutus, the family dog, had torn through trash in the family's Oxford Avenue home. In the aftermath of the trash incident, Lorenzo told his 8-year-old brother, Mervin, that he would kill himself if he rolled a "6'' on the Yu-Gi-Oh! dice.
Rosita Jackson said Mervin told her the same story as well.
"The dog tore the trash up, and then Lorenzo got mad because they had to clean the trash up,'' she said.
Lorenzo and Mervin headed into the basement and grabbed Lorenzo's purple and gold Yu-Gi-Oh! dice.
"Mervin rolled the dice and got a 4, '' the mother said. "Lorenzo said `You live!' Then Lorenzo rolled a 6.... Lorenzo tells Mervin, "I die!' and he leaves.''
Lorenzo's brothers waited for him to return, but he never did. A short time later, a neighbor out walking her dog found Lorenzo at Sammis Park, across the street from the boy's home.
The Summit County medical examiner has ruled the death a suicide.
Medical investigators say it would have only taken a couple of minutes for him to be unconscious. With his 110-pound frame weighing down the strap that he was hanging from, he may have lacked the strength to lift himself up once he started, they said.
"I know he didn't do it intentionally, because that just wasn't Lorenzo,'' Jackson said.
Detectives ruled out homicide. Lorenzo had no defensive wounds or bruises, nothing to indicate another person was involved.
"When you find someone under strange circumstances, you look for trauma or signs there was force used or there was any kind of a struggle,'' said Akron Police Maj. Michael Madden. "There were no signs
WHAT...THE....FUCK...
But the 11-year-old also had a fascination withanimation-based card games, particularly Yu-Gi-Oh! Family members say his interest in the game, which also can include dice, started about two years ago but turned obsessive in recent months.
Local Yu-Gi-Oh! enthusiasts say the game is harmless fun. But Lorenzo's mother says his involvement in the game led to his death.
On the evening of Nov. 10, Lorenzo was found dead at a North Hill park, hanging from a sagging, chain-link fence. A blue, cloth dog leash was wrapped around his neck, with the leash's metal clasp hooked to the fence.
Earlier, he had been playing with dice that came with a Yu-Gi-Oh! card deck. His mother, Rosita Jackson, thinks his death came down to a dice roll.
Lorenzo was baby-sitting his two younger brothers that evening. Their mother had gone to Salineville in Columbiana County to tend to a cancer-stricken aunt. Stepfather Marlo Jackson was returning home from a job in North Carolina.
"Lorenzo was a very mature, responsible 11-year-old,'' his mother said. He had helped me with his brothers before.... He was happy that he was helping. He was very proud of that.''
According to Akron police records, Lorenzo's brothers, 6 and 8, said he had gotten mad because Brutus, the family dog, had torn through trash in the family's Oxford Avenue home. In the aftermath of the trash incident, Lorenzo told his 8-year-old brother, Mervin, that he would kill himself if he rolled a "6'' on the Yu-Gi-Oh! dice.
Rosita Jackson said Mervin told her the same story as well.
"The dog tore the trash up, and then Lorenzo got mad because they had to clean the trash up,'' she said.
Lorenzo and Mervin headed into the basement and grabbed Lorenzo's purple and gold Yu-Gi-Oh! dice.
"Mervin rolled the dice and got a 4, '' the mother said. "Lorenzo said `You live!' Then Lorenzo rolled a 6.... Lorenzo tells Mervin, "I die!' and he leaves.''
Lorenzo's brothers waited for him to return, but he never did. A short time later, a neighbor out walking her dog found Lorenzo at Sammis Park, across the street from the boy's home.
The Summit County medical examiner has ruled the death a suicide.
Medical investigators say it would have only taken a couple of minutes for him to be unconscious. With his 110-pound frame weighing down the strap that he was hanging from, he may have lacked the strength to lift himself up once he started, they said.
"I know he didn't do it intentionally, because that just wasn't Lorenzo,'' Jackson said.
Detectives ruled out homicide. Lorenzo had no defensive wounds or bruises, nothing to indicate another person was involved.
"When you find someone under strange circumstances, you look for trauma or signs there was force used or there was any kind of a struggle,'' said Akron Police Maj. Michael Madden. "There were no signs
WHAT...THE....FUCK...