Murder due to gaming conflict: Victim and perpetrator are cousins
(Baonghean.vn) - Both families are poor. Just because of a small conflict while playing a game on their phones, two students in grades 10 and 11, who are cousins and live in the same village, got into a fight that resulted in one person dying and the other being in trouble with the law.
After nearly 2 days, shock and grief covered Ang village (Thong Thu commune - Que Phong). The Tet atmosphere seemed to last longer when a heartbreaking murder occurred, leaving one dead and another in jail at the age of 16 - 17.
According to our investigation, the families of Lo Thai Hop (born in 2002) and Luong The Ky (born in 2001) are both poor households in Ang village. More importantly, both the perpetrator and the victim are cousins, but because of a small conflict, Hop killed Ky.
 |
| The family of victim Luong The Ky is surrounded by grief. Photo: Truong An |
Mr. Le Duc Hieu - Secretary of Ang village Party cell said, according to his research and the assessment of the villagers, Lo Thai Hop is a gentle person, who has never caused disunity with friends and people around him.
However, when Hop was in 10th grade at Que Phong High School, about 40 km from home, his studies declined and he was often absent from school. Despite his parents and relatives' advice, Hop often skipped school and spent his time wandering to internet cafes to play games. Once, Hop even pawned his phone at a pawn shop to have money to play games.
 |
| Subject Lo Thai Hop at the time of arrest. Photo: Truong An |
Around the end of 2017, the homeroom teacher called Hop's parents, Mr. Lo Van Thai and his wife Lang Thi Huong, to inform them that their son had not yet made any progress. Due to the family's difficult circumstances and the child's lack of concentration in studying, Mr. Thai and his wife let their son stay home from school to help the family. However, the heartbreaking incident has now occurred.
Information from the Thong Thu Commune Police Department said that after committing the crime, Lo Thai Hop was stopped by everyone and went home to sleep soundly. When he was brought in to give his statement, he was still calm and spoke clearly as if nothing had happened.
 |
| Many friends and relatives came to offer condolences to the victim's family. Photo: Truong An |
As for the victim Luong The Ky (born in 2001), neighbors described him as a gentle and hard-working person. Ky is the second child of Mr. Luong Van Kien and Ms. Lo Thi Hai. Ky is currently an 11th grade student at Que Phong High School.
Hearing the news of Ky’s death, many relatives and friends expressed their condolences because he was a gentle and obedient student. Ky’s death was a great pain for the family in this poor border village.
Before that, at about 1:30 am on February 21, 2018 (the 5th day of the Lunar New Year), a group of 6 young men were playing cards and drinking alcohol at Mr. Luong Van Khuyen's house, Ang village (Thong Thu commune, Que Phong), including Lo Thai Hop (born on January 1, 2002) who was watching. Mr. Luong The Ky was sitting next to him playing a game on his phone. Hop looked at him and said the name of the character in the game. Thinking that Hop said something wrong, the two got into an argument that led to a fight. Hop was punched and kicked by Mr. Ky and then stopped by a young man in the group. Angry because of being beaten, Hop went into the kitchen and saw a knife about 50 cm long, took it out and suddenly slashed Mr. Ky's head. Due to the serious injury, at about 11 pm on February 21, 2018, Mr. Ky died. Lo Thai Hop was also arrested immediately after and handed over to the investigation agency for handling.
