Police Blame Calif. Boy's Death on 'Choking Game'

(April 30) -- Police say a 12-year-old boy in California is the latest victim of a potentially deadly game designed to offer a fleeting high.

Responding to a 911 call on April 20, police found Erik Robinson, a sixth-grader at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica, at his home in full-blown cardiac arrest with a rope tight around his neck, KTLA news reports. After being rushed to a hospital, the boy was taken off life support the following day and pronounced dead.

"The Santa Monica Police Department is investigating this incident as an accidental death," Sgt. Jay Trisler said in a statement released Wednesday. "Preliminary information reveals that the accidental death may have been the result of the juvenile engaging in the 'choking game.' "

The game, variations of which have been around for generations, consists of restricting the flow of oxygen and blood to the brain so that an individual experiences a tingling sensation, akin to a drug-induced high, for a few moments afterward.

Police say they determined that Erik had been playing the game only after they had interviewed his friends and completed an autopsy.

In a letter to students and their parents, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District called Erik's death a "tragic accident."

"He wanted to be in the military," Alia Moural, a fellow student at Lincoln Middle School, told KABC news. "That was his dream. There were a bunch of rumors, but I don't know why he did the choking game."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 1995 to 2007 a total of 82 American children died as a result of playing the game, ABC reported. Many of the victims, who are disproportionately male, die because they play the game when they are alone.

Asphyxiation can lead to seizure, broken bones and permanent brain damage, as well as death, the Dangerous Behaviors Foundation said on its website.