Chances are we've all either pranked or been pranked by someone at some point in our lives. While the usual experience is embarrassment followed by laughter, for the people on this list, what started out as an innocent prank for a laugh ended in utter tragedy.
10. Teens Cover Stop Sign, Kill Two Seniors
Two Ohio teens, Seth Stonerock and Derek Greenlee, loved to pull pranks. They would often post about them on Facebook. In August 2011, the duo posted about their latest prank: covering a stop sign in plastic wrap so it was barely visible.
That afternoon, two sisters, 80-year-old Jeanne Shea and 85-year-old Mary Sprangler were out for a drive, heading north on Huber-Hitler Road. Not seeing the covered stop sign, Shea drove straight through and got hit by an SUV that had the right of way.
Mary died instantly, and Jeanne later died in the hospital. The driver of the SUV did not suffer any serious injuries.
Both teens were charged with tampering with a traffic control device and involuntary manslaughter. Stonerock received a four-year sentence. The judge in the case called his actions "childish and juvenile." Greenlee, however, had his charges dismissed due to lack of evidence once it was found that he'd helped to buy the plastic wrap but did not take part in covering the sign. He'd watched from the vehicle, telling Stonerock that he thought it was a bad idea, but he still did nothing to stop it.
Stonerock was released after serving eight months of his four-year sentence.
9. Man Kills Friend With A Fake Gun
Best friends Nicholas Bell and Jeffrey Charbonneau were staying with a mutual friend over Thanksgiving weekend in 2010. Charbonneau fell asleep and Bell decided to play a joke on his friend. He grabbed what he thought was an air rifle and, in an attempt to scare Charbonneau, fired a shot. The air rifle turned out to be a very real .22 caliber hunting rifle. Charbonneau was hit in the chest and died at the scene.
Bell was charged with simple assault with a weapon, reckless endangerment, and manslaughter. In court, Bell was grief stricken that his practical joke killed his best friend, saying that his actions were stupid and careless. But it was not the first time Bell had shot his friend. A video from 2009 shows Charbonneau bleeding after being shot by Bell with a BB gun. Bell can be heard laughing in the background.
Bell pled no contest to the charges. He received one year in prison for the lesser charges and was given seven years deferred for the manslaughter charge. Hopefully, he's finally learned his lesson about shooting people as a joke.
8. Fireman Dies Chasing Vandals
On an October evening in 2010, a group of presumably bored teenagers in Alabama decided to go out and roll houses with toilet paper for fun.
After rolling a couple houses, they moved on to their next one, the home of 34-year-old James Luther McRae, a local fireman and newlywed. McRae saw the teens in his yard and called 911, thinking they were about to break in. The teens fled, getting into their vehicle and driving away. McRae decided to chase after them to get the license plate number. He lost control of his pickup truck on a curve, drove through a fence, and because he was not wearing his seat belt, he was ejected when the vehicle overturned. He died at the scene of the accident.
The teens, all under 18, were interviewed by police but were not charged in McRae's death. Police, however, promised a crackdown on local pranks, saying they planned to charge anyone out rolling or egging homes.
7. Teen Eggs The Wrong Vehicle
In 2006, eighth grader Danny Crawford and two friends were egging cars. One of those eggs hit the Jeep that Michael Shane Gross Jr. was the passenger of. His father, Michael Sr., was the driver. The older man stopped the vehicle and chased the teens into an alley while his son got out of the vehicle with a .9mm pistol, firing shots at the teens. A bullet hit Crawford in the shoulder and exited his jaw. The young boy died at the scene.
