An 11-year-old boy in Pennsylvania is facing charges after he allegedly shot his father dead. Documents detail that the minor admitted to the killing, saying that the victim had previously taken away his Nintendo Switch.
According to court documents obtained by WGAL, the incident occurred on Tuesday, January 13. At around 3:20 a.m., Pennsylvania officers responded to a South Market Street home in Duncannon, Perry County. Upon arrival, they found 42-year-old Douglas Dietz lying in his bed with a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Douglas’s wife, Jillian, told police officers that she woke up to a loud noise in the middle of the night, according to ABC27. She unsuccessfully tried to wake up her husband when she noticed the smell of gunpowder and a noise similar to water dripping. When she turned on the light, she encountered the gruesome scene: the “water” was actually Dietz’s blood.
Allegedly, her son, Clayton Dietz, 11, whom she and Douglas adopted in 2018, then entered the room and said, “Daddy’s dead.” Court documents also show that a Pennsylvania State Trooper heard the young boy say, “I killed Daddy,” at the scene.
KOMO News reported that the tragedy occurred on Clayton’s birthday and that the family had just sung “Happy Birthday” to him at midnight. Douglas told Clayton to go to bed and took away his Nintendo Switch, which angered the 11-year-old.
Police said Clayton admitted to finding a key to a safe in his father’s drawer, which he used to unlock it, hoping that he would find the video game console. He, instead, came across the gun. Allegedly, he removed the weapon from the safe, loaded bullets into it, walked to his father’s side of the bed, and ultimately fired the gun, killing his father, an affidavit detailed.
Clayton was placed under arrest and subsequently charged with criminal homicide. As reported by Penn Live, he is being tried as an adult, as all juvenile cases involving violent crimes such as homicide are defaulted to adult court in Pennsylvania. Clayton’s defense may successfully move his case into the juvenile system, but the process could take months. If convicted, he could spend five years to life in prison, depending on the crime’s categorization.
In the meantime, the 11-year-old was denied bail due to the severity of his alleged actions. He remains held in a juvenile detention center, and he is scheduled to appear before Magisterial District Judge Richard Gibney on January 22 for his preliminary hearing.
