Police: Boy killed mother, wounded father with gun

The pastor and his wife were shot Saturday.

WELLINGTON, Ohio (AP) — The 16-year-old son of a preacher is accused of shooting his mother to death and critically wounding his father by shooting him in the face, police said.

Daniel Petric was being held in the weekend shooting death of 43-year-old Sue Petric. Her husband, the Rev. Mark Petric, 45, pastor of New Life Assembly of God in Wellington, remained in critical condition Monday at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland.

“We believe that Daniel is the sole person responsible for this tragedy,” said Capt. Rich Resendez of the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office. “He has given us some details about what occurred and indicated some of his reasoning, but we’re not discussing any motive at this time.”

“Obviously there’s no reason why it occurred but in his mind he did have somewhat of an explanation,” Resendez said.

His mother was pronounced dead Saturday at their home in Brighton Township, outside Wellington, about 35 miles southwest of Cleveland.

Petric appeared before a juvenile magistrate Monday and was charged with murder and attempted murder. Petric must be tried as an adult according to state law, said juvenile magistrate Stephen Blake, who set a probable cause hearing for Nov. 9 before Lorain County Domestic Relations Judge David Berta.

Petric was represented by attorney Jim Kersey. Attorney John Otero was appointed as his guardian.

Kersey asked that Petric be released to the custody of his grandfather, which Blake denied. Petric was to remain at the Lorain County Detention Home where the hearing took place.

A man the court identified as Petric’s paternal grandfather, Michael Brockel, said that Petric had already been forgiven by his parents and God.

“Daniel has been a loving child all his life,” Brockel said.

The family’s modest, three-bedroom ranch home with gray siding is surrounded by open land and corn fields.

Kathie Stiles, 47, and Stephanie Maybaugh, 34, who are members of Petric’s church and friends of the family, were at the Petric house Monday to clean, dust and do laundry so it will be ready when family members return.

Stiles said that Mark Petric enjoyed hunting and kept guns at his house. “If you live in Wellington, you’re a hunter, pretty much. We’ve been out here when they had target practice and it would involve some guys from the church,” she said.

“Gun use, and knowledge of guns, would have been something in which Danny was well educated, but in the proper way,” in terms of gun safety, Stiles said.

Maybaugh said she was Daniel Petric’s coach on a Bible challenge team that competed with other churches on knowledge of the Bible. She described him as intelligent and friendly.

The Petrics’ daughter Heidi Archer and her husband, Andrew, found the shooting victims in the home before 7 p.m. Saturday when they arrived to watch the Cleveland Indians play the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series.

Daniel Petric tried to block the Archers at the door, but they pushed their way in, police said. The wounds were recent, and a 9 mm gun was found at the scene, Resendez said.

Andrew Archer, 23, gave his father-in-law first aid, while Heidi Archer, 21, called 911, Resendez said.

“The first aid that Andrew applied to Mark possibly did save him,” Resendez said.

Wellington police pulled Daniel Petric over in the family’s minivan about 7:10 p.m., Resendez said.

Before moving to Wellington, the Petrics were youth and associate pastors at Eastgate Assembly of God near Columbus and worked as house parents for troubled teens at the Choice Place Boy’s Home in Ashland.

“The facts will come out. Meanwhile, Mark and his family were easy to love, they were just like the rest of us,” said Hal Stiles, a member of New Life church.