Camilla Jessen
Boy, 11, charged after father found shot in bed.
According to reports from ABC 27 News, WGAL 8 and KOMO, Pennsylvania State Police were dispatched around 3:20 a.m. on Jan. 13 to a residence on South Market Street in Duncannon following a call about an unresponsive man.
Officers found 42-year-old Douglas Dietz in his bed with a gunshot wound to the head.
Court records cited by the outlets state that his son, Clayton Dietz, had turned 11 that same day and was arrested shortly afterward on a criminal homicide charge.
He is currently being tried as an adult.
Inside the home
An affidavit obtained by WGAL 8, KOMO and ABC 27 News details statements from the boy’s mother, Jillian Dietz.
She told investigators that she and her husband had sung happy birthday to Clayton before the family went to sleep. She later woke to a loud sound and what she initially thought smelled like fireworks.
Only then, she reportedly told police, did she realize the noise had come from a gunshot.
WGAL 8 reports that Jillian described hearing what sounded like dripping water before discovering it was her husband’s blood.
She told officers she saw Clayton in a closet, where he allegedly said, “he’s dead,” before running downstairs shouting, “my dad’s dead.”
Alleged motive
According to the affidavit referenced by the outlets, the boy said his father had told him to go to bed just after midnight and removed his Nintendo Switch, which upset him.
He allegedly told police he found a key to a household safe in his father’s drawer while trying to retrieve the console.
Investigators say the affidavit states he admitted removing a gun from the safe, loading it, approaching his father’s side of the bed and firing.
When asked what he thought would occur when he pulled the trigger, WGAL 8 reports he responded that he was angry and “had not thought about that.”
Officials told WGAL 8 the couple had adopted the child in 2018. He is being held without bail ahead of a Jan. 22 court appearance.
PEOPLE reported his public defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sources: ABC 27 News, WGAL 8, KOMO, PEOPLE.
