Tragedy in Texas: 10-Year-Old Boy Accidently Hangs Himself After Watching Saddam Hussein Hanging Video

The start of the new year should mean prosperous new beginnings. Yet for a family in Webster, Tx., the first week of the new year has ended in a tragedy. A 10-year old boy accidentally hanged himself in his home in Webster, Tx. apparently in an attempt to mimic the hanging of Saddam Hussein. Relatives told police on Wednesday that Sergio Pelico had been watching the news coverage of the hanging with his uncle and other siblings over the weekend and asked about it.

His uncle responded that Saddam was a bad man and that's why he was hanged. Sergio later went into his bedroom, tied some clothes to the top bunk of his bed, and around his neck accidentally hanging himself. Sergio was described as being like any other normal 10-year old boy and police have no reason to suspect that his death was anything more than a tragic accident.

This is a terrible tragedy but who is to blame? The media for bringing such events into living rooms every night? The relatives who weren't supervising the child closely enough? The parents for leaving the children in the hands of other people? In this situation it is easy to point fingers but in the end the result is still the same; a 10-year old child died. This is not the first time a child has been hurt or killed trying to do something he has seen on TV.

Newsrooms and police reports abound with stories of children watching Jackass and trying out some of the stunts. They watch WWF and then wrestle with other kids causing themselves and others injury or possibly death. Such was the case in 2001 when Lionel Tate, then 12, was convicted of first-degree murder for the battering death of 6-year old Tiffany Eunick. His defense team claimed that Tate was "playing around" trying to show Eunick some wrestling moves he had seen on TV.