A crime of shocking and unexpected magnitude occurred at a Pennsylvania home, where an 11-year-old boy has been charged with criminal homicide for fatally shooting his father while he slept. The victim, 42-year-old Douglas Dietz, lived with his son at their home on the first block of South Market Street in the suburban Harrisburg neighborhood of Duncannon. The day of the incident also marked the birthday of Douglas’s son and the prime suspect, Clayton Dietz.
The events leading up to the crime reportedly began after the boy became upset when his adoptive father took away his Nintendo Switch video game console in the early morning hours of his birthday. Despite the conflict, the family stayed up until midnight to wish Clayton a happy birthday and sang to him.
However, the 11-year-old became further upset when his father told him he needed to go to bed. First, the removal of the video game console and then the instruction to call it a night reportedly angered Clayton.
After his parents went to sleep, the child allegedly entered their bedroom. He opened a dresser drawer and retrieved the key to his father’s safe. Clayton reportedly believed that his Nintendo Switch had been placed inside the safe and intended to retrieve it.
Instead, when he opened the safe, he found a revolver. According to preliminary records, Clayton loaded the gun, pulled back the hammer, walked over to his sleeping father, and fired. The child’s mother, who was sleeping beside the victim, awoke to the sound of a gunshot and immediately smelled smoke in the room, which she later described as resembling fireworks.
Court records are revealing what led up to a shooting that claimed the life of a central Pa. man and had an 11-year-old charged with homicide.
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When the woman nudged her husband to check whether something was wrong, Douglas Dietz did not wake up. She then suspected something amiss after hearing a sound resembling water dripping. This prompted her to rise from the bed and switch on the light. It was then that she discovered the horror: her husband was bleeding profusely from a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
The child, who was in the room, immediately realized his mistake. Clayton broke down and said, “My dad’s dead.” He then ran downstairs, screaming to himself, saying, “I killed my dad. I hate myself.”
Authorities later found that the boy had a bloody lip and a contusion above his left eye, injuries that were unexplained. This development is expected to add another dimension to the investigation and could potentially indicate foul play.
Hours after the crime, police arrived at the home at about 3 a.m. and discovered Douglas Dietz’s body. The wife told authorities what she had deduced as the primary witness, indicating that her son was the one who pulled the trigger. According to PennLive.com, she and her husband adopted their son Clayton in 2018, when he was 3 years old. The family moved into their South Market Street home in 2023.
When investigators spoke with the child, he reportedly admitted that he had someone else in mind — not his father — when he fired the gun. When further asked whether he understood the consequences of pulling the trigger, the boy reportedly said he was simply angry and did not fully understand the outcome.
Despite being a minor, Clayton will be tried in adult criminal court under Pennsylvania law. Court records show the 11-year-old’s first hearing is scheduled for January 22.
