An 11-year-old boy in Pennsylvania is accused of fatally shooting his adoptive father early Tuesday, Jan. 13, after allegedly becoming angry when the man took away his Nintendo Switch and told him to go to bed.
Clayton Dietz, who turned 11 on Tuesday, Jan. 13, was arrested that day and charged with criminal homicide, according to online court records. Court records also indicate he is being tried as an adult.
Pennsylvania State Police responded to a home on South Market St. in Duncannon during the early morning hours of Jan. 13 after receiving a report of an “unresponsive male,” according to ABC 27 News, WGAL 8, and KOMO. Authorities arrived around 3:20 a.m. and found Douglas Dietz, 42, dead in bed with a gunshot wound to the head, the outlets report.
According to an affidavit obtained by WGAL News 8, KOMO and ABC 27, the child’s mother, Jillian Dietz, told investigators that she and her husband had sung happy birthday to their son before the family went to bed. Jillian said she was sleeping beside her husband when she woke to a loud noise and initially thought she smelled fireworks, the affidavit states, WGAL 8 reports.
She then heard what she described as water dripping — and realized it was her husband’s blood, the affidavit says, per WGAL 8.
Jillian Dietz told police she saw Clayton in a closet, where he allegedly said, “he’s dead,” before running downstairs yelling, “my dad’s dead,” according to the affidavit cited by ABC 27 News.
Investigators say the boy told police that Monday, Jan. 12, had gone well, but shortly after midnight things changed. “When his dad told him he needed to go to bed, he got mad at him,” the documents allege, WGAL reports.
According to the affidavit, the boy said that after his father took his Nintendo Switch, he found a key to a safe in his father’s drawer and unlocked it, believing the console might be inside. Instead, police say he accessed a gun stored in the safe.
The boy allegedly told investigators that after “removing the gun from the safe, loading bullets into it and walking over to his father’s side of the bed, he pulled back the hammer and fired the gun at his father,” the affidavit states.
When asked what he thought would happen when he pulled the trigger, the boy allegedly told police, “He was mad and he had not thought about that,” according to the affidavit cited by WGAL 8.
Officials said the couple adopted the child in 2018, WGAL 8 reports.
Clayton Dietz is being held without bail pending his next court date on Thursday, Jan. 22, according to court records. His public defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
